The First Round on May 2nd

The final seconds before the start of the fight and Pacquiao is bouncing towards the center of the ring with his gloves up, a fierce look in his eyes. He looks to come out of his corner before the bell. Bayless tells him to get back, but Pacquiao hardly obliges.

Mayweather stands in his corner just staring straight ahead, calm and collected. He shakes his legs out and bounces few times. He leans forward on his left foot. Ready.

*Ding!*

Bell rings. Pacquiao comes out quick and immediately starts off throwing the straight left hand. Floyd is moving backwards and throws two jabs to create some distance and takes a few steps forward. Pacquiao throws two jabs of his own and has Mayweather moving backwards again. The fight starts off at a fast pace, Pacquiao clearly the aggressor. He seems extremely light on his feet and has Mayweather backing towards the ropes. As Mayweather gets close to the end of the canvas, he quickly moves side to side and throws a check left hook. It lands and he slides out to his left back towards the center of the ring.

Pacquiao quickly turns to face him, shrugging it off, and presses forward again. He feints, and Mayweather uses his quick feet to jump back. Pacquiao throws a jab, jab, straight, but it doesn't connect. Mayweather bends for a second then lunges forward with a body jab, but Pacquiao's feet are quick enough and he slips just out of range.

Further into the round, Pacquiao throws a jab, jab and Mayweather is backing up. As he reaches towards a corner, he stops for a second. Pacquiao jabs at him again, and as Mayweather jumps back, Pacquiao lunges forward with a straight left hand. It misses and Mayweather quickly throws another check left hook. It lands. Pacquiao lets his hands go after being hit and let's off 5 punch combination, but Mayweather is backing up too fast.

Mayweather stops at the center of the ring again and leans forward with his hands down. Pacquiao has his hands up and is using a ton of head movement. After a few seconds of non activity, Mayweather throws another body jab. He wants to attack the body; however, as Mayweather drops down and comes in, Pacquiao's speed catches him with a clean right hook to the temple. Caught on surprise, Mayweather stumbles to his right, and Pacquiao follows it with a straight left hand which pushes Mayweather back up, unbalanced.

The crowd erupts as Mayweather stumbles back, his gloves down. Pacquiao, seeing Mayweather's reaction, races in and begins throwing a fast combination. 5, 6, 7, 8, punches. Not all are landing, but Mayweather has thrown up his high guard and quickly walks back to the ropes. Pacquiao splits the high guard and lands a few shots. Mayweather leans back and tries to smother Pacquiao off with his forearms. As Pacquiao steps back to readjust, Mayweather throws a right hand and slips out.

Mayweather frowns and shakes his head at Pacquiao as he edges back towards the center of the ring, insinuating, "You didn't hurt me." Pacquiao nods, acknowledging, and presses forward.


Mayweather is using a lot of body movement. When he bends, Pacquiao bends, and the intensity is extremely high. Mayweather throws a right hand and Pacquiao counters with the left over top, but they both miss.

As the two fighters reset, Pacquiao throws a straight left, and Mayweather ducks it. Then as Pacquiao comes in, Mayweather clinches onto Pacquiao's arms. Pacquiao squirms as Mayweather free hand lands a few body shots. Bayless quickly comes in and separates them.

Continuing on, Mayweather throws the right hand and it lands, but Pacquiao hardly flinches. Instead, he presses forward.

He lowers himself for a second, calculating. He feints and Mayweather throws up his high guard. Pacquiao side steps and when Mayweather opens up again, he fires off a 4 punch combination without warning. Mayweather rolls the first one, the second and third one land but Mayweather drops low to avoid the last one. He then moves forward to clinch onto Pacquiao, but Pacquiao uses his quick feet to get back enough to avoid Mayweather's hold. Then, as Mayweather raises his body, Pacquiao closes the distance quickly again and fires the straight left hand. It lands and Mayweather jumps back towards the ropes. As Pacquiao comes in, Mayweather throws another quick left hook. Pacquiao anticipates it though, and it hits his shoulder.

10 seconds.

In the center of the ring, Pacquiao hops back and forth lightly on his feet at the sound of the ten second warning. Mayweather waits and throws a jab to create more distance. Pacquiao feints and then throws a left hand. Floyd pull counters and comes back with a lightening quick lead. When it hits, Pacquiao reacts by throwing a combination. Floyd ducks low again, but Pacquiao catches him with an uppercut.

Bell rings and Bayless quickly gets in between. Both walk back to their corner fine, hearing the roar from the standing ovation the crowd is giving them. The world can now say they've fought.

The commentators are giddy sounding during the break. Roy Jones Jr mentions Mayweather's sharpness and that Pacquiao is going to have to cut the ring off better in the second round. Lampley sounds excited as he points out Pacquiao's ability to connect on Floyd fairly well and wonders if the right hook counter could've been called a flash knockdown.

The crowd is still screaming, and the noise deafening as each corner gives their fighter crucial advice. Then, the bell sounds and round two begins.





This is my first round. What is yours?