![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date | March 13, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Venue | Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Title(s) on the line | WBO welterweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pacquiao wins via 12-round unanimous decision (120-108, 119-109, 119-109) |
Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey , billed as The Event, was a welterweight fight for the WBO welterweight championship. The bout was held on March 13, 2010, at Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas, United States. This match was put together after the long awaited "superfight" between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. had fallen through.
Following Pacquiao's victory against Cotto, there was much public demand for a fight between the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world: Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Pacquiao reportedly agreed to fight Mayweather on March 13, 2010, for a split of 50 million dollars up front. [1] And it was later agreed that the venue for the fight would be the MGM Grand Las Vegas. However, the bout was put in jeopardy due to disagreements about Olympic-style drug testing. The Mayweather camp wanted random blood testing by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, [2] whereas Pacquiao refused to have any blood testing within 30 days from the fight, because he thought it would weaken him, but he was willing to have blood taken from him before the 30-day window as well as immediately after the fight. [3] Freddie Roach, on the other hand, commented that he would allow blood to be taken from Pacquiao one week before the fight. [4] [5] In an attempt to resolve their differences, the two camps went through a process of mediation before a retired judge. After the mediation process, Mayweather claimed that he agreed to a 14-day no blood testing window, however, Pacquiao refused and instead only agreed to a 24-day no blood testing window. [6] Consequently, on January 7, 2010, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum declared that the fight was officially off. [7]
Pacquiao agreed to random blood testing above and beyond that which is required by the rules of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, but not to the extent requested by Mayweather. Despite producing no evidence to back their claims (Pacquiao has been drug tested for all of his past fights in Las Vegas and has passed them all), the Mayweather camp had repeatedly suggested Pacquiao was using banned substances throughout the negotiations, which resulted in Pacquiao filing a lawsuit for defamation, seeking damages in excess of 75,000 dollars. [8] The lawsuit cited accusations made by Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. [8] [9] The lawsuit claimed that the damaging and unfounded accusations were made out of "ill-will, spite, malice, revenge, and envy." [9] Pacquiao stated: "I maintain and assure everyone that I have not used any form or kind of steroids and that my way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work, hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring, not outside of it." [9]
After negotiations for the Mayweather fight fell through, other boxers were considered to replace Mayweather as the next opponent for Pacquiao, including former light welterweight champion Paul Malignaggi [10] and current WBA super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman, [11] while Mayweather considered Malignaggi [12] [13] and the smaller Nate Campbell [13] as potential opponents for his next fight. However, Pacquiao chose to fight Joshua Clottey instead, a tough boxer from Ghana and the former IBF welterweight champion.
Pacquiao won every round and ultimately the fight through a unanimous decision. [14] [15] He dominated the punch count throughout the fight. Clottey landed some successful punches in the middle rounds, but never produced a sustained offensive. Manny Pacquiao defended his title by unanimous decision, 120-108, 119-109, 119-109. After the fight, Pacquiao returned to Manila. At the time, he reflected on a possible retirement. [16]
The fight was rewarded with a paid crowd of 36,371 and a gate of $6,359,985, according to post-fight tax reports filed with Texas boxing regulators. [17] Counting complimentary tickets delivered to sponsors, media outlets and others, the Dallas fight attracted 41,843, [17] well short of the 50,994 that was previously announced, [18] but still an epic number for boxing. In addition, the bout drew 700,000 pay-per-view buys and earned $35.3 million in domestic revenue. [19]
Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | ![]() | WBC lightweight title | Unanimous decision |
![]() | ![]() | Welterweight | TKO |
![]() | ![]() | Middleweight | Split decision |
Non-TV bouts | |||
![]() | ![]() | Bantamweight | TKO |
Robert Arum is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorney in the tax division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the first Puerto Rican boxer to win world titles in four weight classes, from light welterweight to middleweight. In 2007 and 2009, he reached a peak active pound for pound ranking of seventh by The Ring magazine. Cotto started out his career as a hard-hitting pressure fighter, but evolved over the years into a more refined boxer-puncher as he moved up in weight.
Antonio Margarito Montiel is a Mexican-American former professional boxer who competed between 1994 and 2017. He held multiple welterweight world championships, including the WBO title from 2002 to 2007, the IBF title in 2008, and the WBA (Super) title from 2008 to 2009. He also challenged three times for a light middleweight world title between 2004 and 2011. Nicknamed El Tornado de Tijuana, Margarito was known for his aggressive pressure fighting style and exceptionally durable chin.
Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao is a Filipino politician, businessman, former professional basketball player and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously served as a senator of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed between 1996 and 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and won 15 major world championships from super featherweight to light middleweight. This includes the Ring magazine title in three weight classes and the lineal championship in four weight classes. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics, three U.S. Golden Gloves championships, and the U.S. national championship at featherweight.
Richard John Hatton is a British former professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012, and has since worked as a boxing promoter and trainer. During his boxing career he held multiple world championships in the light-welterweight division, and one at welterweight. In 2005 he was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine, the Boxing Writers Association of America, and ESPN.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Sr. is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 1990. Fighting at welterweight during the 1970s and 1980s, Mayweather Sr. was known for his defensive abilities and overall knowledge of boxing strategy. He is the father and former trainer of Floyd Mayweather Jr., and also father to Justin Mayweather, an American boxer residing in Las Vegas.
Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2014. He is world champion in three weight classes, having held major titles from featherweight to lightweight, including the lineal championship at lightweight.
Joshua Clottey is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2019, and held the IBF welterweight title from 2008 to 2009. As an amateur, he competed at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. At the peak of his career, he was notable for his exceptionally durable chin, and was never stopped in any of his five losses.
Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito, billed as "The Battle", was a professional boxing match between WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and former IBF and WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito. The WBA welterweight title bout took place on July 26, 2008, at the MGM Grand in Paradise, Nevada, and resulted in an eleventh round technical knockout victory for Margarito.
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, also billed as The Dream Match, was a professional boxing welterweight superfight. The bout took place on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. Pacquiao defeated De La Hoya via technical knockout when De La Hoya decided not to continue with the fight before the start of the ninth round. The card was a co-production of Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing and De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions and was aired live on pay-per-view (PPV) on HBO PPV. The fight is notable for propelling Manny Pacquiao to full-blown superstar status in much of the western world, as Oscar De La Hoya symbolically "passed the torch", so to speak, to Pacquiao.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton, billed as The Battle of East and West, was a professional boxing match for the IBO and The Ring light welterweight championship between Manny Pacquiao of General Santos, Philippines and Ricky Hatton of Manchester, United Kingdom. The bout was held on 2 May 2009 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States and drew 1.75 million pay-per-view buys.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto, billed as Firepower, was a boxing match for the WBO welterweight championship. The bout was held on November 14, 2009, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Pacquiao won the fight via technical knockout in the twelfth round.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Shane Mosley, billed as Who R U Picking?, was a boxing welterweight non-title superfight, in which Mayweather Jr. won by unanimous decision with two judges scoring it 119–109 and one judge scoring it 118–110. The bout was held on May 1, 2010, before a "sellout" crowd of 15,117 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Boxing greats Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson were among a long list of celebrities in attendance. The match was put together after Andre Berto pulled out of his scheduled January 30 unification bout against Mosley.
Miguel Cotto vs. Yuri Foreman, billed as Stadium Slugfest, was a boxing super welterweight fight for the WBA Super Welterweight championship. The bout was held on June 5, 2010, at Yankee Stadium, in New York City, United States. Cotto won the fight via technical knockout in the ninth round.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley, was a welterweight fight for the WBO welterweight championship. The bout was held on May 7, 2011, at MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won by unanimous decision and retained his WBO welterweight championship. The fight was Manny Pacquiao's first PPV fight on Showtime boxing.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Miguel Cotto, billed as Ring Kings, was a boxing super welterweight bout held on May 5, 2012, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Mayweather won the fight by unanimous decision in what was deemed to be a clear, but very competitive and exciting victory for Floyd.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, billed as the Fight of the Century or the Battle for Greatness, was a professional boxing match between undefeated five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao. It took place on May 2, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Mayweather Jr. won the contest by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring it 116–112 and the other 118–110.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas, billed as The Legend/The Champ, was a boxing match for the WBO welterweight championship. The event took place on November 5, 2016 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao won the fight by unanimous decision and took the WBO welterweight title. The fight sold 300,000 pay-per-view (PPV) buys in the United States (US), earning an estimated $18 million in pay-per-view revenue.
Manny Pacquiao competed in professional boxing from 1995 to 2021. Regarded by boxing historians as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time, Pacquiao is the only boxer in history to win twelve major world titles in eight different weight divisions. He is also the first boxer in history to win the lineal championship in five different weight divisions, as well as being the first boxer in history to win major world titles in four of the original eight weight divisions of boxing, also known as the "glamour divisions": flyweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight.