Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
Wednesday, March 11, 2015, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao held a press conference at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California to formally announce their Welterweight unification fight.
The 12-round super-fight will take place May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and will be jointly presented on pay-per-view by HBO Sports and Showtime Sports.
Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza credited many including his HBO counterpart, Ken Hershman, for making the fight happen.
“Once Mayweather and Pacquiao made it clear they wanted this fight, we didn’t want to be an obstacle,” said Espinoza.
Whatever the reason may be and despite it being hard to believe, the over 500 members of the media who came, the Hollywood-style red carpet and the huge press conference itself were enough to make it clear that this fight is a reality.
First it was Manny Pacquiao who walked down the carpet to take photos and answer questions under a gloomy March sky, while an hour later Mayweather arrived to do the same.
By the time of the formal press conference, both fighters had been answering questions for over two hours, but nonetheless looked confident in their demeanors.
With the Nokia nearly full, both fighters took the stage with their respective announcers calling their name–Michael Buffer called Pacquiao’s name, while Jimmy Lennon Jr. called out Mayweather’s.
Screenshot via ESPN
And, just like that, after over five years we had the first face-off of the two best fighters of their generation.
The face-off was long, giving one enough time to take photos and play with the zoom in order to get the perfect shot.
There was not a soul in the theater without a camera, camcorder or even audio device–everyone wanted to capture and keep an important moment in boxing history.
Still, it seems, the face-off wasn’t long enough after such a long wait.
We just don’t get a matchup of this sort everyday.
A Respectful Conference, Except for Freddie Roach
“We’re going to kick his ass,” said Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, who perhaps was the only one ballsy enough to actually express the testosterone-filled tension that a fight of this magnitude would pose for the two best fighters in the world.
Despite the mere formality of a press conference–the thank-yous were indeed abundant between both teams–Mayweather did express his emotional investment.
“I’ve never wanted to win a fight so bad,” said Mayweather, as if conscious of the weight that his fight will have on his legacy and on the history of the sport.
“This will be the biggest event in the history of boxing,” said Mayweather.
If Mayweather is successful, he will have successfully claimed his superiority over not only the Welterweight division or the pound-for-pound rankings, but of his entire generation.
Despite this, both fighters were respectful. Pacquiao spent more time, in fact, giving thanks yous and talking about a higher power.
“I will be ready for my date with destiny on May 2,” said Pacquiao. “I am very happy that Floyd Mayweather and I can give the fans the fight they have wanted for so many years. They have waited long enough and they deserve it,” said Pacquaio, after turning his speech into a kind of sermon, offering his rags-to-riches life as an example of how God can turn something into nothing.
If there was ever a better example to give of the ability to turn nothing into something, it’s the one we have now before us.
Two years ago, Pacquiao had to be lifted off the canvas after a knockout-loss to Juan Manuel Marquez.
Hopes of a fight with Mayweather, it seemed, were completely gone and struck down into oblivion.
Today, however, both fighters stood face-to-face while the world watched.
This May, after 5 years of nothing, we’ll finally be treated to something.
