Floyd Mayweather defeated Manny Pacquaio by Unanimous (points) Decision after 12 rounds of hotly contested bout at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday.
All three judges recorded a 118-110 116-112 116-112 victory for the American, who is now unbeaten in 48 bouts and claims the unified welterweight crown.
Mayweather said: “I knew he was going to push me. He had moments in the fight but I kept him on the outside, I was a smart fighter I out-boxed him. We did what we had to do tonight, I’m truly blessed.
“I calculate the fighter. He’s a tough competitor. My dad wanted me to do more but I had to take my time and watch Manny very close.”
Mayweather, 38, retains his WBA and WBC titles and takes over the WBO title from Pacquiao.
With a lot at stake for both fighters and spectators, who had had their monies on the line, at a 16,000 sell-out MGM Grand, it was Mayweather who got the better of Pacquaio in early rounds.
Pacquaio put his opponent under pressure in Round 4 but the ‘Money Man’ employed his size to an advantage, and coupled with his athletic footwork hardly found himself in danger.
‘PacMan’ appeared to have lost his plot after a one-sided 11th round, which opened with and immediate straight jab right to the face of the Filipino and ended with much more gait in Mayweather’s footwork amidst a blurry of undefended punches.
Mayweather danced left, right and back left in the closing minutes of the final round in an attempt to avoid a punch from Pacquaio and undoubtedly claimed victory having landed 148 of his 435 attempts all night, while Pacquaio managed just 81 hits in 429 punches thrown.
“It’s a good fight, I thought I won. He didn’t do nothing, just moved outside,” Pacquaio said in the ring.
“I got him many times. I think I won the fight. He is moving around and it’s not easy to throw a lot of punches if your opponent moves around. I can handle hi, it’s not strong like other opponents. It’s not about size. I’ve been fighting bigger than him and it’s not a problem.”
It was Pacquaio’s sixth defeat- a fight expected to generate an estimated $400m (£265m).