Pacquiao vs Mayweather: It’s on

The fight everyone has been waiting for is less than two months away. On March 11, the Nokia Theater at L.A. Live was the setting for the press conference to make the official announcement about the fight between Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao and Floyd “Money “ Mayweather. It will be May 2, 2015, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Both men have had great careers, but for the last five years the most talked about fight that wasn’t expected to ever happen was between Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao. The two fighters met for the first time, face-to-face, March 11 for the press conference as they prepare for their highly anticipated meeting in the ring.

Professionally Mayweather is undefeated (47-0) and Pacquiao has a record of 57-5-2, with 38 of his wins by knock out. Mayweather has had 26 wins by knockout. Both fighters have fought in multiple weight classes and for their fight on May 2, they will be fighting for the undisputed welterweight championship of the world.

Part of the historic nature of this fight will be the fact that both HBO and Showtime will televise the fight over their pay-per-view channels and both networks will have ring announcers: Michael Buffer for HBO and Jimmy Lennon, Jr. for Showtime. I was able to stop Ken Hershman, president of HBO Sports, for a couple of questions on the red carpet. You can watch the exchange in the video.

This is the fight of the century, as anticipated as the first fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier 44 years ago. Will this fight live up to the hype? It has the potential, and Pacquiao’s manager, Freddie Roach, made a bold prediction from the podium. He has a history with Mayweather so Roach might know how to give Mayweather his first defeat.

You can catch some of what the fighters had to say and also what others in the press conference said about this fight; Like Ken Hershman, Stephen Espinoza, Vive President of Showtime Sports, Richard Sturm, President of Entertainment and Sports, MGM Grand, Bob Arum, co-founder and CEO of Top Rank, Inc and Les Moonves, president and CEO of CBS.

It was a red carpet day for boxing.

(All photos and video by Claudia Gestro)

Claudia Gestro

Claudia is of Peruvian and Italian descent, having been born in a small town, in the North of Peru, South America. She was raised by her grandmother from an early age, living in poverty until Claudia’s mother brought her to America. She landed in Miami, FL and started her new life, playing high school basketball and eventually becoming a United States citizen. Claudia completed her education at Florida International University with a BA in Broadcast Journalism and became a model to supplement her income. Since graduating from FIU Claudia has worked with many of the Spanish Language broadcasting companies, including Telemundo, Univision and most recently Spanish Language channels on SiriusXM satellite radio and 93.9 FM Exitos in Los Angeles. Just so you know where her loyalty lies: Go Lakers!