Manny and Floyd go face to face

By Scott Christ]Scott Christ scottchristBLH@scottchristBLHon Mar 12, 2015, 5:47p

hough it's been known to be in the works for a couple weeks now, today it was officially confirmed that Vasyl Lomachenko will defend the WBO featherweight title on May 2 against Gamalier Rodriguez, as part of the Mayweather-Pacquiao PPV undercard.
Lomachenko (3-1, 1 KO) doesn't have a big pro record, but he already holds a major title, and the two-time Olympic gold medalist is one of the most purely skilled fighters in the world. At 27, Lomachenko has wasted no time looking to join the elite ranks of the pro boxing world, as he fought for a world title in his second pro fight, a lesson-learning loss to veteran Orlando Salido, and won a vacant title in his third fight by beating Gary Russell Jr.
Lomachenko last fought on November 23, beating Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo in Macau on the Pacquiao-Algieri bill.
Rodriguez (25-2-3, 17 KO) was also recently connected to WBA titleholder Nicholas Walters as a potential opponent, but now has Lomachenko in his sights. The 28-year-old Puerto Rican isn't considered a serious contender in the division, but is on a 17-fight win streak dating back to 2011, all against marginal opposition of varying degrees. He racked up 11 of those wins fighting scrubs in the Dominican Republic, where he sort of rebuilt his career after starting 8-2-3. After the 11 wins in the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez has gone 4-0 in Puerto Rico, 1-0 in another fight in the Dominican, and 3-0 in the United States.
Lomachenko-Rodriguez will be one of just two undercard fights that are part of the PPV broadcast, rather than the standard three. This is Top Rank's addition to the card, while the other undercard fight will be from Mayweather Promotions

http://www.badlefthook.com/2015/3/12/8205025/mayweather-vs-pacquiao-vasyl-lomachenko-officially-added-to-undercard

I can't wait for this fight.

The hype/promotion is going to be insane.

I want to see that wife beater hurt real bad in the ring. I hope the ref doesnt save him.

TeamJohnPerretti wrote:I can't wait for this fight.

The hype/promotion is going to be insane.

Yeah, I have been hoping for this one for a while. I can't wait either.

kayneoTheRisingWarrior wrote:

Crazy, it is just over one month away.

Boxing gives us Manny vs Floyd.

MMA gives us ROna vs Bethe Carrara.

Sky Sports Box Office has been awarded exclusive live rights to 'the fight of the century', the welterweight world championship unification clash between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, thanks to an agreement announced today.

The contest, one ofthe most eagerly anticipated events in boxing history, will be shown live from the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The event puts together the two of greatest boxers of all time: Floyd Mayweather (47-0-0) the undefeated 11 time world champion and holder of the WBC and WBA titles, and Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2) the reigning WBO welterweight world champion and winner of 10 world titles.

The Sky Sports viewers will be able to follow build-up to Mayweather v Pacquiao across its channels and digital media outlets, including access to both boxers' training camps, press conferences and public appearances.

Barney Francis, Managing Director of Sky Sports, said: "This fight has everything and is set to be one of the biggest sports events of the year. As the home of boxing in the UK and Republic of Ireland, we're thrilled to be awarded the rights.

"We'll provide Sky Sports viewers with the best possible build-up across our channels and outlets and the best coverage of the fight itself from our team in Las Vegas."

Analysis of the fight will be provided by Adam Smith, former world cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson and former world lightweight champion Jim Watt, as well as a range of boxing experts. Sky Sports viewers can also enjoy an extensive schedule of support programming providing the best possible analysis of the fight including the weekly magazine programme Ringside, the Ringside Toe 2 Toe podcast series and feature length interviews.

Sky Sports News HQ will be in Las Vegas during the final build-up to bring the latest news and analysis from both camps including the official press conferences, and weigh-in as the two fighters complete their training camps and anticipation reaches fever pitch.

The event is part of a packed month of live sport that Sky Sports viewers can enjoy during May. The schedule includes live coverage of the Barclays Premier League, the Sky Bet Championship and League 1 and 2 Playoffs, Scottish Cup Final, the Spanish and Monaco Grand Prix, golf's Players Championship from Sawgrass, and rugby league's Magic Weekend from Newcastle's St James Park stadium.

The cost of the event will be £19.95 and €24.95 across all forms of booking up until midnight Friday 1 May. From then on the cost will still be £19.95 / €24.95 if bookings are made via remote control and online, but will cost £24.95 / €29.95 if booked via the phone. Please note an additional £2 booking fee still applies if bookings are made via a telephone agent. Cable customers please contact your operator for booking information.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=88881

Fight will cost $99 for a high-definition feed and $89 for standard definition, both record prices
By
Joe Flint

• 
  Joe FlintThe Wall Street JournalCANCEL
  
• BiographyJoe Flint
  
• Joe.Flint@WSJ.com
  
• @JBFlint
  

Updated April 1, 2015 6:52 p.m. ET

A month before boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao even enter the ring, their May 2 title fight is already breaking records, with the pay-per-view bout set to cost fans $99 according to people close to the negotiations between the networks and TV distributors.
HBO and Showtime, which are handling negotiations for the camps of Mr. Pacquiao and Mr. Mayweather respectively, are expected to wrap up deals with major pay-TV distributors in the next few days for the highly anticipated welterweight title fight. The negotiations stalled last week as distributors and HBO and Showtime sparred over the split of what is expected to be record-setting pay-per-view revenue.
Under the terms being discussed, the fight will be sold for $99 for a high-definition feed and $89 for standard definition, both of which are record prices.

Initially, pay TV distributors were asked to give up as much as 70% of the revenue instead of the usual 50% to 55%. That offer was quickly rejected.
The tentative agreement now being hammered out will be less favorable to the distributors than the standard deal but not as drastic as the first offer, people with knowledge of the terms said. The final split will also be determined by the amount of marketing and promotions the various cable operators put into the fight. If certain incentives are met, the distributors have the potential to get 40% of the pay-per-view revenue.

The key deals for HBO and Showtime are with iN Demand, which negotiates on behalf of Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and other large cable companies, and with DirecTV, the nation’s largest satellite TV operator with more than 20 million subscribers.


Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao held a joint news conference on Wednesday to promote their long anticipated match scheduled for May 2 in Las Vegas. Photo: AP

The other distributors that HBO and Showtime will try to reach accords with are Dish Network and Vubiquity, which handles negotiations for AT&T Inc. and other distributors.
Boxing enthusiasts have been waiting years for this fight and the popularity of Mr. Mayweather and Mr. Pacquiao is such that the bout is expected to be of interest to more than just the hard-core fan. Some industry observers have predicted that it could top three million pay-per-view purchases, which could amount to upward of $300 million. The current record is $152 million for Mr. Mayweather’s fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
But with the fight only a month away, it is crucial to wrap up the pay-per-view deals quickly so distributors can start hawking the match to consumers.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/mayweather-pacquiao-boxing-match-to-cost-99-on-pay-per-view-1427927867?mod=e2tw

The fight is still a month away but there's alot of hype/excitement for this fight.

It will be insane when it gets down to fight week. The weigh in's will be totally packed and full of energy.

100 bucks for a Hi-def PPV? good lord that's a lot of money

Heretic wrote:100 bucks for a Hi-def PPV? good lord that's a lot of money

That's obscene. Has any PPV cost that much before?

Dana wishes he could charge that much.