Ending five years of on-again, off-again negotiations, the two most famous active boxers in the world—Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao—will fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2 in what is expected to be the most lucrative event in the sport’s history. (Fox Sports estimates Mayweather will make $120 million and Pacquaio $80 million.) Mayweather’s fights are currently broadcast on Showtime and Pacquiao has a contract with HBO, so the two channels will present the match as a “joint pay-per-view.”
Mayweather made the announcement by posting a picture of the fight contract to an app called Shots in which he’s an investor.
Mayweather is 38 and Pacquaio is 36, and much will no doubt be said and written before the fight about how much they have or have not declined from their peaks. But Mayweather is still by general consensus the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, while Pacquiao is ranked second by Ring magazine and third by ESPN. (Mayweather is listed as a -295 favorite by Vegasinsider.com, meaning you’d have to bet $295 to win $100 on a Mayweather victory.) And now, finally, they’ll face each other in the ring.
