Floyd Mayweather has made a name as one of the cockiest boxers of his generation - and now, he ha...

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James Bisson

Managing Editor

<p>Floyd Mayweather has made a name as one of the cockiest boxers of his generation - and now, he has taken that bravado to a whole other level.</p><p>In a conversation with Stephen A. Smith that appeared on ESPN's "First Take" on Monday, Mayweather not only compared himself favorably to Muhammad Ali, but also criticized the rope-a-dope strategy Ali used to perfection in his 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" victory over George Foreman.</p><figure><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TVSABC2FDus" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></figure><p>Mayweather's latest headline-grabbing video comes less than two weeks before he's set to face Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas in one of the most highly anticipated boxing matches of the century.</p><figure><iframe src="http://renderer.qmerce.com/interaction/54e7db8c9cf6a70335af7bf3" width="100%" height="338" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></figure>

General News

The most hyped boxing match in decades is in the books. While the 12-round affair won't go down i...

<p>The most hyped boxing match in decades is in the books. While the 12-round affair won't go down in history as the "Fight of the Century," Floyd Mayweather came away victorious in a unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao, keeping his undefeated record - "Money" is now 48-0 - intact.</p><h3>Need to Know (Post-Fight)</h3><ul><li>Mayweather won what ended up being a <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/755997" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/755997">lopsided fight</a>, taking the bout 116-112 on two judges' scorecards, 118-110 on another, and becoming the unified welterweight champion of the world. He'll fight one more time in September before hanging up his gloves. Read <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/755997" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/755997">more</a> for a round-by-round breakdown of the May 2 fight. </li></ul><ul><li>
<a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/757902" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/757902">Pacquiao fought with a shoulder injury</a>, he revealed after the fight, and was barred by the Nevada Athletic Commission from taking an anti-inflammatory shot before the bout, even though the NAC knew of his condition. </li></ul><ul><li>
<a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/757857" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/757857">Must-see images</a> from the fight.</li></ul><figure><img src="https://assets-cms.thescore.com/uploads/image/file/111483/cropped_REU_2227244.jpg?ts=1430632584"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><ul><li>Twitter <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/757887" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/757887">reacts</a> to Mayweather's win.</li></ul><ul><li>If you're a celebrity and you weren't at the fight, you're actually not a celebrity. <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/757800" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/757800">Private jets crammed Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport</a> on May 2.</li></ul><ul><li>Tickets were being sold for <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/757762" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/757762">$7,500 a seat</a> hours before the May 2 fight.</li></ul><h3>Need to Know (Pre-Fight)</h3><ul><li>Conflicting reports surface after Mayweather's camp reportedly blocks the credentials of two reporters. (<a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/757508" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/757508">Read More</a>)</li></ul><ul><li>Both Mayweather and Pacquiao <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/756902" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/756902">made weight</a> prior to the bout, with the two fighters tipping the scales at 146 and 145 lbs. respectively. More than 11,500 fans were on hand to watch the weigh-in even though the event required paid admission.</li></ul><ul><li>Mayweather-Pacquiao trainers <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/756425" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/756425">exchange verbal jabs</a> ahead of big fight.</li></ul><ul><li>Mayweather and Pacquiao<a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/755689" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/755689"> share a staredown</a> at the final press conference.</li></ul><ul><li>A reported <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/754442" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/754442">28 million pay-per-views</a> have been sold over the course of Mayweather and Pacquiao's careers, generating $1.6 billion in revenue. More than <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/757703" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/757703">500,000 PPV buys </a>had been made of the mega-fight as of Saturday morning. </li></ul><ul><li>Bettors are banking on the fight<a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/752038" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/752038"> ending in a draw</a>. Odds have gone from 22-1 in February to 8-1 currently at the MGM sportsbook. </li></ul><ul><li>Despite the heavy price tag, tickets available to the public <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/751649" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/751649">sold out in less than a minute</a>. </li></ul><ul><li>Ticket prices on the re-sale market are <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/756756" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/756756">dropping</a> ahead of the fight, with the average ticket going for $3,899 the day before the bout.</li></ul><ul><li>Watching the fight from home also won't come cheap. The <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/736811" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/736811">PPV will cost a record</a> $89.95 for a standard version with high definition expected to add another $10 surcharge.</li></ul><ul><li>An electrical company in Palawan province in the Philippines is <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/756640" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/756640">urging citizens to turn off major appliances during the fight</a>. The province has been dealing with power outages recently, and Palawan Electric Company wants to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to watch the bout, which will air Sunday morning local time. </li></ul><ul><li>Kenny Bayless has been <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/749969" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/749969">appointed the fight's referee </a>and he's no stranger to either Mayweather or Pacquiao. Burt Clements, Dave Moretti and Glenn Feldman will serve as the fight's judges and will have all eyes on them should the bout end in a decision.</li></ul><ul><li>Mayweather took his cockiness to a new level in a conversation with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, suggesting he's <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/749396" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/749396">better than Muhammad Ali</a> while criticizing the boxing legend for using the rope-a-dope to beat George Foreman in the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle. Ali, 73 and suffering from Parkinson's disease, <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/754651" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/754651">punched right back</a>: "Don't you forget, I am the greatest!" Mike Tyson <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/756086" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/756086">also lashed out</a>.</li></ul><ul><li><p>Pacquiao brought <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/755021" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/755021">plenty of confidence</a> with him to Las Vegas. "I know I'm going to win the fight in the ring," Pacquiao said. "So relax."</p></li></ul><ul><li>Mayweather's <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/740891" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/740891">history of domestic violence is reportedly fueling Pacquiao</a>, according to Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer. Roach also has said that Pacquiao has learned from his losses, while <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/746520" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/746520">Mayweather "hasn't learned anything yet."</a>
</li></ul><ul><li>The two storied pugilists held only one joint <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/719212" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/719212">press conference</a> prior to the fight. It was a little dull, but it did feature an epic stare down.</li></ul><ul><li>Although Mayweather opened as a huge favorite, <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/736894" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/736894">heavy money placed on Pacquiao</a> has led to a dramatic dip in Mayweather's odds of victory.</li></ul><ul><li>A historic fight deserves a historic belt. World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman says a <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/709236" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/709236">commemorative belt</a> embroidered with either emeralds or platinum is being made for the winner. Apparently the fight also requires a <a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/739467" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/739467">$25,000 mouthguard</a>. </li></ul><figure><iframe src="http://renderer.qmerce.com/interaction/54e7db8c9cf6a70335af7bf3" width="100%" height="338" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></figure><h3>Features</h3><ul><li><a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/757130" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/757130">Top 5 fights of Floyd Mayweather's career</a></li></ul><ul><li><a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/756782" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/756782">Top 5 fights in Manny Pacquiao's career</a></li></ul><ul><li><a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/755653" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/755653">How to bet the Mayweather-Pacquiao megafight</a></li></ul><ul><li><a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/752925" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/752925">Top 3 undefeated boxers of all time</a></li></ul><ul><li>
<a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/755581" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/755581">Will Mayweather-Pacquiao be the last big boxing match</a>?</li></ul><ul><li><a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/754612" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/754612">PHOTOS: A visual history of boxing through the past 100 years</a></li></ul><ul><li><a data-in-app-uri="thescore:///news/755643" href="http://www.thescore.com/news/755643">Staff Picks: Mayweather gets the nod</a></li></ul><h3>Further Reading</h3><ul><li>We got the fight we deserved, writes Will Leitch: "This is what we had coming all along. We ignore a decade of cruelty toward women from Mayweather, the overall repulsiveness of the human beings who surround the world of boxing, the shocking price tag, the sport's inherent disorganization and grift, all of it, we ignore it because we hope that at the end, we get to see someone's sentience smashed into gristle for our amusement. We gather and thirst for carnage, and then we grouse that we didn't get our money's worth. You paid $100 expecting to see a pile of bloody mush in the middle of the ring, and now stomp your feet that you didn't get it. It didn't happen, because Mayweather is brilliant at his sport, and because he sees us for the animals we are. We can say we won't do it again. But we will. Because maybe next time someone <em>will </em>land a killer shot, and we will spill our drinks and howl. Last night we were played for suckers. But it's our own faults. We deserve every bit of it. We probably deserve worse." [<a href="http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2015/05/mayweather-pacquiao-fight-recap.html">GQ</a>]</li></ul><ul><li>The fight may not have lived up to the hype, but it was far from boring, writes Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel, because Mayweather is unlike anyone else in the ring: "<span style="line-height:1.5em; text-align:justify">But this wasn't so much a boring fight as a Floyd Mayweather fight, and you can label it dull if you wish, rail that he just doesn't excite the masses with the offense everyone craves, but this is exactly what was likely to happen. </span><span style="line-height:1.5em; text-align:justify">There is a wizard-like quality to what the man has accomplished in the ring." [<a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/boring--floyd-mayweather-s-clinical-win-over-manny-pacquiao-shows-gulf-in-class-063152600-boxing.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&amp;soc_trk=tw">Yahoo</a>]</span>
</li></ul><ul><li>Mayweather remains undefeated, and one of the best boxers in history, but there's one battle he'll never be able to win, writes Greg Bishop: "This is how it goes with Mayweather, how it always is with Mayweather. He may have made upwards of $180 million Saturday, and he further cemented his status as the best boxer of his generation. But there is one fight—that of public perception; to be known as a world-class fighter, not a serial batterer—that he cannot win. [<a href="http://www.si.com/boxing/2015/05/03/floyd-mayweather-beats-manny-pacquiao-fans-boos-history">SI</a>]</li></ul><ul><li>ESPN's Tim Keown delves into Mayweather's character: " He is ... a man whose eagerness to proclaim his own talent -- he calls himself TBE for The Best Ever -- and flaunt his extreme lifestyle have caused a good percentage of those who pay attention to boxing to revile him. Those who hate Mayweather don't want to see him lose; they want to see him buried." <a href="http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/12748163/floyd-mayweather-prepares-2-fight-seal-legacy">[ESPN</a>]</li></ul><ul><li>Sports Illustrated breaks down five years of negotiations leading up to Saturday's epic contest, taking a comprehensive look at talks that had been going on since the fall of 2009. [<a href="http://www.si.com/boxing/2015/04/28/floyd-mayweather-manny-pacquiao-negotations">SI</a>]</li></ul><ul><li>Days before the mega event, Grantland's Louisa Thomas writes: "Floyd Mayweather Jr. has bobbed, weaved, and danced through domestic violence accusations for much of his career. On the verge of the biggest fight in recent history, can we separate the athlete from the alleged abuser? [<a href="http://grantland.com/features/floyd-mayweather-pacquiao-domestic-violence-allegations/">Grantland</a>]</li></ul><ul><li>Rolling Stone spent a day with Pacquiao at the Wild Card Boxing Club: "There is a peculiar blend of savvy and naivete to the way Pacquiao interacts with the world. For someone so radically famous among his people, he still possesses a wide-eyed sincerity that affords even his low-grade karaoke singing an aura of crude authenticity." [<a data-in-app-uri="" href="">Rolling Stone</a>]</li></ul><h3>Top Tweets</h3><figure><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">We waited 5 years for that... <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/underwhelmed?src=hash">#underwhelmed</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MayPac?src=hash">#MayPac</a></p>— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeTyson/status/594736142286659584">May 3, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></figure><figure><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PacquiaoMayweather?src=hash">#PacquiaoMayweather</a> was a good fight. It as the left jab that won it for <a href="https://twitter.com/FloydMayweather">@FloydMayweather</a> but <a href="https://twitter.com/MannyPacquiao">@MannyPacquiao</a> put on a show. Be proud!</p>— George Foreman (@GeorgeForeman) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeForeman/status/594728690493206528">May 3, 2015</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sorry boxing fans.</p>— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) <a href="https://twitter.com/OscarDeLaHoya/status/594725140794970112">May 3, 2015</a>
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<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></figure><figure><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's <a href="https://twitter.com/justinbieber">@justinbieber</a> celebrating after the champ, <a href="https://twitter.com/FloydMayweather">@floydmayweather</a>, is announced as the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/maypac?src=hash">#maypac</a> winner! <a href="http://t.co/fCZ3r8CLKA">pic.twitter.com/fCZ3r8CLKA</a></p>— MGM Grand Hotel (@MGMGrand) <a href="https://twitter.com/MGMGrand/status/594728199898017792">May 3, 2015</a>
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VIDEO: Floyd Mayweather believes he's better than Muhammad Ali

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