This day in boxing. A look back.

[NoSavingByTheBell]

[Master]

Good things come to those who wait, right? Well, that is not always the case in boxing, as demonstrated when Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao finally met on May 2, 2015.

The bout was dubbed 'Fight Of The Century', a do-not-miss battle between two long-time rivals that had been brewing for years (and years).

Instead, the main event fell a little flat, failing to live up to the hype – hardly surprising, considering for how long it had been talked about – with Mayweather emerging victorious by unanimous decision after 12 rounds in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao left the ring that night at the MGM Grand with a sore shoulder and a bruised ego. The long-awaited opportunity had rather passed him by - at 36, and with a career in politics already lined up, his future as a fighter was unclear.

Yet while Mayweather only fought once more before initially retiring – 'Money' made a comeback to face Conor McGregor for a lucrative meeting that moved his career record to 50-0 – Pac-Man is still going strong, overcoming an unexpected setback to prove his doubters wrong.

Nearly a year after the Mayweather fight, Pacquiao returned to action to face a familiar foe in what he claimed beforehand would be his boxing swansong.

"I'm so happy to be hanging up the gloves after this fight because of what I have done," he told the media ahead of facing Timothy Bradley for a third time. “I'm sure I will be sad after that fight. That's life.”

Pac-Man had his eyes on becoming a senator in the Philippines, but did not look beyond Bradley, who had won their first meeting via a controversial split-decision verdict, back in 2012.

Pacquiao had prevailed in a 2014 rematch and also came out on top in the final episode of their trilogy, dropping his opponent twice on his way to a points triumph.

That was meant to be that, except before the end of 2016 he was back between the ropes again. Jessie Vargas was no match as Mayweather watched his former opponent from close quarters at ringside, adding fuel to talk of a rematch.

Victory secured the WBO welterweight title for Pacquiao, who demonstrated that despite being just shy of his 38th birthday, he still had plenty left to give. "He's not done fighting yet," said trainer Freddie Roach.

Jeff Horn was due to be nothing more than a stepping stone. The Australian nearly missed his big opportunity – Pacquiao at one point seemed set to face former gym-mate Amir Khan instead – but had home advantage on his side. It was one of the few things experts felt he had going in his favour.

However, Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane witnessed the mother of all upsets in July 2017, in part thanks to some questionable scoring.

Horn did more than just surpass pre-fight expectations just by making it to the final bell, though. He showed a willingness to stand and trade with a legendary name, as well as coming through a ninth-round storm that looked at one stage certain to sweep him away.

He finished strongly too, but it was still a surprise to most when the challenger was declared a unanimous winner on all three cards. The verdict raised serious questions over the judges' scoring, as well as Pacquiao's future in the sport.

The WBO conducted a review into the outcome at the behest of the Philippines government, but a secondary check only vindicated the original outcome.



If there were doubts over what Pacquiao had left in the tank after losing to Horn, he has emphatically quashed them since.

A year after the unexpected setback Down Under, and with Roach replaced by Restituto 'Buboy' Fernandez in his corner, a refreshed and focused fighter stopped the heavy-handed Lucas Matthysse in the seventh round in Kuala Lumpur.

Having claimed before the first bell to be the underdog, Pac-Man dissected an opponent admittedly there for the taking, knocking him down in the third and fifth rounds before a left uppercut finished the job. "I'm still here," he said afterwards, as if a first stoppage win in nearly a decade had not made that point.

After Adrien Broner managed to go the distance to lose on points in January 2019, Pacquiao gave a demonstration of his abilities when dealing with Keith Thurman just six months later.

The Filipino dropped Thurman in the first round on his way to a split-decision outcome that showed, despite this being the 71st outing as a professional, he remains at the top table in a packed welterweight division.

Mayweather may have nullified him astutely five years ago, but Pacquiao's late resurgence suggests Father Time cannot quite get the better of him just yet.

Even at 41, there are still a few chapters to be written before closing the book on a storied career.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/may...120020100.html

[Beanz]

[TitoFan]

A day late, but what the hell..........

Floyd Mayweather vs Miguel Cotto: May 5, 2012




I posted the whole fight because the highlights I saw don't do justice to Cotto in that fight.

[Spicoli]

Say what you want about King and everyone does but tremendous run of PPV cards. So deep p4p Finito Lopez was making 10th defense well under the card . Always felt Jackson would be blown out in do over but he left damage on Gerald first time around. Frankie Randall railroaded plane and simple.

[TitoFan]

May 12, 2001. THIS... is how you make a case for belonging in the middleweight division... not like when DLH went in against BHop. True, Trinidad lost his very next fight against BHop... but on this night beat a legitimate MW champion to set up the BHop fight.

[Master]

That was an exciting fight, forgot how Joppy was in that fight, when I thought Trinidad destroyed him with ease. The funny thing was Tito had success with his right hand, it seemed he could not miss Joppy when he threw it. Trinidad kept on missing with that huge left hook of his.

I thought Trinidad was going to be the undisputed champion after that performance. The champion elect but B Hop had other ideas.

[Spicoli]

May 12, 2001. THIS... is how you make a case for belonging in the middleweight division... not like when DLH went in against BHop. True, Trinidad lost his very next fight against BHop... but on this night beat a legitimate MW champion to set up the BHop fight.

Trinidad put on a torture chamber that night. In a zone. Joppy was more than respectable at full 160 and he should have never had to go 3 fights with Julio C Green after the first 3rd round to finally 'arrive'. Says everything you need to know when you think Joppy would still go on to have his head pummeled into a pumpkin over 12 rounds with Hopkins some 2.5 years later.