The eagerly awaited bout between undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Filipino champion Manny Pacquiao is now official.
Mayweather promotions caused a stir over social media after posting an image of the signed contracts via Instagram.
The fight is pegged to be the richest matchup in the history of boxing. Under the deal, Mayweather stands to earn a whopping $120 million (or more) while Pacquiao's estimated take home purse runs roughly around $80 million.
In the lead up to the announcement, numerous rumors emerged about various sticking points in negotiations, including claims that Mayweather wanted the right to announce the fight. Other negotiating points included which boxer would enter the ring first, as well as what kind of gloves each of the fighters would be using among others.
However, Mayweather has admitted that his meeting with the Filipino boxer recently at an NBA game played a big part in making the fight happen. Mayweather and Pacquiao crossed paths January 27 during a basketball game between the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets held at South Beach.
It was the first time that both fighters had ever met each other in person, and seemingly sparked negotiations to move forward at lightning fast pace compared to the last half-decade. After their NBA game meeting, Mayweather even visited Pacquiao at his hotel room to continue talks and iron out many of the details man-to-man.
Over recent weeks, the boxing world has been on the edge of its seat as the dream bout that has evaded the world for far too long finally moved towards becoming a reality.
Two events, the Super Bowl and the NBA All Star weekend, were closely monitored as fans were waiting for a big announcement. It never came.
Rather, the official announcement came on Feb. 20, 2015 which as expected, sent social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to a frenzy.
