Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Results: Lopsided Scorecards Settle Longstanding Debate

The excitement ahead of the Las Vegas showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao was unrelenting.

Weeks, months and years prior to their bout, the boxing stratosphere had long debated over which of these two illustrious fighters would come out on top. And finally, the issue was put to bed, as Mayweather delivered a clinical display of supreme defensive boxing.

The immaculate American—who is now unbeaten in 48 professional fights—won via a unanimous points decision, with the judges’ scores of 118-110, 116-112, 116-112 making for sorry reading for Pacquiao.

However, speaking after the fight, Manny claimed he thought he’d won, per AudioBoom:

But as the world reacted to this lucrative sporting occasion, few and far between agreed with Pac-Man’s assessment of the action. Granted, Mayweather didn’t make this one a classic encounter, as he did his utmost to evade Manny’s burst of punches and controlled the range with real class.

Skip Bayless of ESPN claimed that this style shouldn’t have been enough to have secured him the fight:

But plenty who are a little savvier with the sweet science watched in awe at Mayweather’s technical mastery. Of course, everyone likes to see a major tear-up once in a while, and an absorbing slugfest would have been befitting of such a grand stage. But that’s never been Floyd’s style.

In terms of pure and fundamental boxing skills, this was as good as it gets. “Protect yourself at all times” is a line uttered by the referee that fighters tend to ignore in the main, but in the case of Mayweather’s defensive shell, it couldn’t be any more apt.

As noted by two-time European middleweight champion Matthew Macklin, in terms of in-ring instincts, Mayweather was absolutely flawless:

The American is so difficult to hit. His reflexes remain as sharp as ever at the age of 38, his footwork to get out of tight situations is refined, and the ease with which he lands those thunderous counterpunches is almost mesmeric.

Pacquiao couldn’t get near him and was noticeably hesitant about being picked off by Money. But as we can see here courtesy of CompuBox, surprisingly, Mayweather was actually the busier fighter in terms of punches thrown:

There may have been some contributing factors for that, though. As reported by Ben Dirs of BBC Sport, Pacquiao revealed he had a shoulder injury coming into the bout. Given his reserved manner throughout the 12 rounds, it was a knock that looked as though it had affected him.

As such there have been some calls for a rematch, and it would certainly be intriguing to see how a replenished Manny goes about penetrating Mayweather’s indomitable defensive structure the second time around. However, as noted by Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, the result of this fight—injury or otherwise—was definitive:

The score has finally been settled, it would seem. Many fans who are loyal to Pacquiao will be unmoved in their support of their man and their own views that he should have won this bout. But the Filipino’s slumped demeanour in the post-fight press conference illustrated plenty; he knows this opportunity has passed him by.

Meanwhile, Mayweather’s legacy and bank account have been greatly enriched by this win over Pacquiao. For a long time, detractors of Floyd’s style claimed that Pacquiao was the man to finally blemish his impeccable record, but after years of fantastical chatter, Money’s dominance has been given tangible credence by 12 rounds of one-sided action.