The following are some details and quotes according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
“I am glad my decision to meet with Manny and discuss making this fight happen helped get the deal done,” Mayweather said, referring to a chance Jan. 27 meeting with Pacquiao at a Miami Heat game followed by a private discussion after the game. “Giving the fans what they want to see is always my main focus. This will be the biggest event in the history of the sport.”
The networks resultingly will come together to produce and distribute a joint pay-per-view telecast, which is expected to cost a record-high $89.95 (and probably $10 more for high definition).
“I am very happy that Floyd Mayweather and I can give the fans the fight they have wanted for so many years,” Pacquiao said. “They have waited long enough and they deserve it. It is an honor to be part of this historic event. I dedicate this fight to all the fans who willed this fight to happen and, as always, to bring glory to the Philippines and my fellow Filipinos around the world.”
“Boxing fans and sports fans around the world will witness greatness on May 2,” Mayweather said. “I am the best ever, TBE, and this fight will be another opportunity to showcase my skills and do what I do best, which is win. Manny is going to try to do what 47 before him failed to do, but he won’t be successful. He will be number 48.”
On Friday afternoon, Top Rank was notified and Mayweather made the announcement about an hour later, though the deal had been done for a couple of days with both sides having signed the paperwork. Contracts were also signed by broadcasters HBO and Showtime, who will team for a historic joint pay-per-view.
“It’s hasn’t been easy,” Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com. “But I think in some strange way the inability to get the fight done before now enhances its value and this is one event that the public all over the world has been talking about and discussing for years. The interest in the fight will be absolutely red-hot. I’ve been promoting boxing for nearly 50 years and there is nothing that has come close to this because there has been nothing that has been so difficult to come to fruition. As interest is concerned, this is akin to the first (Muhammad) Ali-(Joe) Frazier fight.
“You have to be grateful that this is finally happening. You can’t bemoan the false starts and the inability to do this before. It’s here now.”
“Everyone involved, including Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, knows this fight simply had to happen,” said Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports. “All of us are thrilled to be able to deliver this event to boxing fans around the world.
“Now, for the second time under his current deal with Showtime Networks, Floyd Mayweather has agreed to fight an opponent that many people thought he’d never face. We set an all-time pay-per-view record with the first event back in September 2013 (with Alvarez) and we look forward to another record-breaking performance on May 2.”
Said HBO Sports president Ken Hershman: “Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather have been the two most prominent fighters in the sport of boxing for the past decade, and fight fans around the world have been clamoring for them to face each other.
“And now, on May 2, in what everyone believes will be the biggest boxing event of all time, fight fans have been granted their wish. May 2 will be a signature moment for the sport of boxing and HBO Sports is thrilled to be a part of this spectacular event. I know the fighters and their teams will be primed to excel and we plan to work closely with everyone involved to deliver the same level of performance from a broadcast perspective.”
“The reason I like my guy’s chances so much is because of his speed, the tremendous number of punches he throws, the quality of his punches and the fact that he is left-handed,” Arum said. “Top Rank promoted Floyd Mayweather for 10½ years and we recognized that he had difficulty handling a speedy, left-handed fighter and that he and his father (and trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr.) were insistent that we not match Floyd with a southpaw. I remember two fights he had with southpaws who didn’t have the ability Mann has but who gave him trouble — (DeMarcus) ‘Chop Chop’ Corley, who buzzed him and had him in real trouble and Zab Judah.”
Said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s Hall of Fame trainer: “Floyd should enjoy being the A-Side while he can because on May 2 Manny is going to put him on his backside.”
