go out there and perform, and do what we do best,” says Mayweather, who brings an impeccable 47-0 record with 26 knockouts to the bout, along with the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association welterweight world titles.
Mayweather, trained by his father Floyd Sr. and continuing a family boxing legacy that stretches back for decades, is closing in on the iconic 49-0 record of 1950s legend Rocky Marciano, who retired as an undefeated heavyweight champion.
The American has held 11 titles in five weight divisions, his untarnished record and unabashed swagger making him the highest-paid sportsman in the world, according to Forbes.
Underlining his gift for provocative self-promotion, Mayweather last week compared himself favorably to heavyweight icon Muhammad Ali.
“I know there will be a backlash, but I couldn’t care less,” Mayweather said.
But beneath the glitzy surface runs a darker Mayweather story, studded by incidents of domestic violence.
It only makes Mayweather the perfect foil for Pacquiao, beloved in the Philippines as a humble humanitarian who has put his own womanizing ways behind him with a return to his Christian faith.
A lover of music and basketball, Pacquiao is a two-term congressman who many predict will one day be president of the Philippines.
At 38, Mayweather is two years older than World Boxing Organization champion Pacquiao, who is nevertheless considered the more ring-worn of the two, with his record of 57-5 with two drawn and 38 knockouts.
The only fighter to win eight world titles in as many weight divisions, Pacquiao’s stock plummeted with two defeats in 2012, including a crushing one-punch knockout by Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez. There were rumors of impending retirement.
He has since won three fights, although in his last bout, in November, he was unable to finish off Chris Algieri despite knocking him down six times. Whether Pacquiao-Mayweather will surpass Ali-Frazier — or any other “fight of the century” — in lasting signficance is immaterial, Arum said.
“This fight is tremendous,” he said. “The interest is tremendous. And we should really wrap ourselves around that fact rather than compare it to fights of another era.
“One thing is clear: it’s the biggest fight of this century.”