In May 2015, Mayweather and Pacquiao broke all records in boxing history when they garnered over 4.5 million pay-per-view (PPV) buys in their “Fight of the Century” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada but millions of boxing fans around the world were disappointed with their ring performance.
In the early rounds of their first encounter in May 2015, boxing fans who were at the venue as well as the more than 4.5 million PPV viewers had enjoyed the fight briefly until round five when Pacquiao started to slow down while Mayweather maintained a safe distance as part of his strategy to win on points.
In the ring interview right after the fight, Pacquiao said he thought he won the fight but the judges had it in favor of Mayweather via a unanimous decision.
Pacquiao later claimed he was suffering from a shoulder injury before and during the fight. His statement angered many of the PPV buyers who paid $100 to watch the fight saying they should have been informed of his injury before the fight in order to give them option to either return their tickets or keep them and hope the fight would still be competitive.
Pacquiao’s longtime trainer Freddie Roach believes that a rematch will address the frustration and disappointment of fans and for everyone to find out who indeed is the better fighter between them.
“I want the rematch with (Floyd) Mayweather,” Roach said. “Manny thought he won that fight and he would definitely want that fight, for sure,” he added.
Pacquiao’s injury claim was validated when he had surgery after the fight to repair his injured shoulder. After months of therapy, Pacquiao said he has fully recovered.
To prove that he is back in top shape, Pacquaio fought Timothy Bradley for the third time and won impressively via a unanimous decision
Pacquiao’s efforts in calling out Mayweather in a rubber match needs to be supported by fans and even by those who believed they were shortchanged by non-disclosure of Pacquiao’s injury before the fight.
The ball is now in Mayweather’s hand and it is up to the fans to let him know that facing Pacquiao for the second time would work in his favor because a win will validate his claim of being “the best ever.” and claim his 50th win to break Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 career record.
