Mayweather v Pacquiao: How the biggest fight of the modern era came to fruition

Until we see both men in the ring, we refuse to believe that Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao will actually come to pass.

That's not our admittedly pessimistic heads forcing us to see the glass half empty because millions of dollars have been spent to ensure that the fight will go ahead. But when you look at the years upon years of ducking, dodging, humming and hawing, we just can't let ourselves get our hopes up until the pair are face to face with Kenny Bayless giving instructions. The talk about Mayweather v Pacquiao truly got started around nine years ago and what a storied, if somewhat frustrating, journey it's been. 2007 Mayweather knocked out Ricky Hatton in the 10th round before announcing his second, and presumed final, retirement from boxing rather than fulfill a rematch with Oscar de la Hoya who Money had beaten in May. https://youtu.be/BS7dPSVEsP0 2008 At 39-0, Mayweather walked away from the sport and left a gap to be filled. A Filipino fighter by the name of Manny Pacquiao duly jumped into the boots left behind by Money and saw off legitimate fighters in Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz and Oscar De La Hoya which made people almost forget about the name Mayweather. https://youtu.be/MRem3WgLi3Q 2009 Pacquiao was in the last-minute preparations to become only the second man, after Mayweather, to beat Ricky Hatton when Money revealed his plans to return to the ring. Mayweather announced his comeback fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, saying: "I'm the king. I left on top and I came back on top." The American fighter also laid the seeds for his rivalry with Pacquiao as he called the Filipino's fight with Hatton "a gamble" between the men but "if you're betting on Floyd Mayweather, that's 'for sure' money." https://youtu.be/FIEdYXeUMKQ In a fairly hostile interview with ESPN's Brian Kenny, the subject of Mayweather v Pacquiao came up but the returning Mayweather did his best to avoid answering the question straight-on. https://youtu.be/mwNt7wv_RN8 In late 2009, talks were reportedly well underway for the pair of welterweights to meet the next year but that fell by the wayside after Floyd's continuous demands for the stringent blood testing of Pacquiao, who has a fear of needles, and the kibosh was well and truly put on the bout after Pacquiao's camp filed a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather's team for suggestions of the Filipino taking performance enhancing drugs. https://youtu.be/GUl6VtYvxKg 2010 As rumours of negotiations were raised and rubbished alternately by both camps, the trash talk took a turn for the personal when Floyd Mayweather published a video in which he engaged in a racist rant against his Filipino rival, saying: "As soon as we come off vacation, we're going to cook that little yellow chump. We ain't worried about that. So they ain't gotta worry about me fighting the midget. Once I kick the midget's ass, I don't want you all to jump on my d**k. So y'all better get on the bandwagon now. ... Once I stomp the midget, I'll make that motherf****r make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice." https://youtu.be/kcI3qmKxnqM 2011 Pacquiao won both his fights in 2011 while Mayweather knocked out Victor Ortiz leading to the demand for the super-fight to gather even more momentum. After Mayweather's dominant victory, he took the opportunity to tell Pacquiao "Yes, you're next!" https://youtu.be/gGbKJuTTPEI 2012 It was revealed in 2012 that Floyd Mayweather had offered Manny Pacquiao a lucrative flat fee of around €40 million but that Pac-man had turned that down because €40 million was not a 50/50 split of the total purse. In an e-mail from Floyd to ESPN, the American wrote: "I also let him know we both can make a lot of money. He ask about a 50/50 split and I told him no that can't happen, but what can happen is you can make more money fighting me then you have made in your career. I also let him know I'm in control on my side but he needs to get on the same page with his promoter so we can make this fight happen." https://youtu.be/P2oBJoK9bEo Calls for the fight lost a bit of momentum after Pacquiao was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in August which led to some top-notch mockery from Mayweather. 2013 Pacquiao continued to bang the drum for the Mayweather bout and, in the run up to Pac-man's decision victory over Brandon Rios, he prodded Money by saying: "If I'm old... if I'm an easy fight, fight me!" https://youtu.be/qiaswwJBd9k Mayweather all but squashed any hope of the realisation of the super-fight in late 2013 when he announced that: "The Pacquiao fight, at this particular time, will never happen and the reason that the fight will never happen is because I will never do business with Bob Arum again." Arum is Manny Pacquiao's promoter but he looked after Mayweather for 10 years and Money has held a grudge with him ever since, feeling that he was exploited by Arum. https://youtu.be/qOMstaiNOFs 2014 The ball was very firmly in Mayweather's court and Pacquiao was well aware of that, saying in February that "it's up to him." "What I can say now is that our line is open 24/7." https://youtu.be/A4gOeUJax7U And Pacquiao, who's not the most outspoken man in the world, even took to trolling in an attempt to get under Mayweather's skin with this hilarious Foot Locker ad. https://youtu.be/L0cfP8upu00 Mayweather carried on referring to Pacquiao's attempts as "desperate" but in December, he set a fight date for May 2015 and claimed that it was Arum, not Mayweather's camp, who was delaying the fight negotiations. https://youtu.be/bf2jqnhOKXo 2015 Arum responded a month later, claiming that everything was in place for the fight announcement but that it was in fact Mayweather who was holding off on putting pen to paper. https://youtu.be/23_cccl_vtQ The stage for a showdown was a bizarre one as Mayweather and Pacquiao came face-to-face at a Miami Heat game. https://youtu.be/YDNVHeg4nU0 In February the fight was finally, and we can't stress finally enough, announced for May 2nd and the boxing world was united by a combination of relief and certainty that something would go wrong in the lead-up. https://youtu.be/qy-pbP84fZ4 But, almost magically, it didn't. Here we are with around two days to go until fight time and everything seems to be right on track for both fighters. It's been a hell of a journey, nine years coming, but we might finally get the chance to see Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao go head-to-head to find out who is the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world right now. That is, unless something happens tomorrow.