TIMELINE: The road to Pacquiao-Mayweather

MANILA, Philippines – The highly-anticipated bout between 2 boxing champions – Filipino Manny Pacquiao and American Floyd Mayweather – is now a signed and sealed deal for May 2. (READ: Pacquiao-Mayweather mega-fight confirmed)

It is a boxing event that took almost 6 years to happen, as talks about a possible Pacquiao-Mayweather match first circulated in 2009.

The years leading to this big fight have been marred with various issues and controversies, as the two camps disagreed time and again during negotiations.

Here’s a look at events that have transpired through the years leading to the confirmation of this boxing event:

2009 

March 19 – News reports claimed that unidentified sources revealed that Mayweather, who at that time has already retired from boxing, was planning to make a comeback in the boxing ring and was eyeing a showdown with Pacquiao.

May 2 – Just hours before Pacquiao was set to fight against Ricky Hatton, Mayweather’s camp held a press conference where the American boxer officially announced his return to the sport. He also announced that he’ll face on July 18 Juan Manuel Marquez, whom Pacquiao previously faced twice.

September 15 – Mayweather’s father reportedly made the first insinuation that Pacquiao may be using “supplements”.

December 5 – It was reported that the two boxers had already agreed on a March 13, 2010 match. An 8-page contract was allegedly signed, which included submitting both to drug testing. Both camps later denied the reports later.

December 13 – Pacquiao’s adviser, Michael Koncz, dismissed Mayweather’s request for random drug testing.

December 22 – Golden Boy Promotions, which Mayweather was affiliated with, announced in a press release that Pacquiao was unwilling to comply with the drug testing that they’re requiring for the match.

December 23 – Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum, declared that the match was off and that the Filipino boxer would be pitted against a different opponent.

December 28 – Mayweather’s camp again released a press release, blaming Pacquiao’s refusal of drug testing for the cancellation of the fight.

December 30 – Pacquiao filed suit in the US District Court in Nevada against Mayweather’s camp after they accused him of using performance-enhancing drugs.

2010

January 9 – Both camps entered into mediation in hopes of coming to an agreement on the blood testing issue. It, however, led to the official cancellation of the anticipated match.

May 13 – Bob Arum reportedly marked November 13, 2010 as the date of Pacquiao’s next fight, possibly against Mayweather.

July 13 – Arum challenged Mayweather to respond to their challenge, and issued a July 16 midnight deadline for the response. Mayweather’s camp didn’t heed the deadline.

July 16 – Arum admitted there was no actual direct communication with any representative from Mayweather’s camp regarding their challenge. 

September 2 – Via Ustream, Mayweather ranted against Pacquiao by calling him “a yellow chump,” among other statements. He apologized for these statements the following day.

2012

January 20 – Mayweather reportedly called Pacquiao over the phone and discussed how they will share the revenue of their match.

April – Arum speculated that the showdown between the two boxers is more likely to occur in 2013. But Mayweather disagreed, and turned the table by blaming Arum for the event not happening.

May – On his Twitter page, Pacquiao’s conditioning coach Alex Ariza blamed Arum for the failure of the earlier negotiations. Meanwhile, Mayweather posted in his Twitter page messages daring Pacquiao for a fight, and even called the Pinoy boxer a punk. 

September 17 – Judge Larry Hicks of Nevada asked Mayweather to pay Pacquiao $113,518.50 (close to P5M) in legal fees for failing to appear in court, in relation to the defamation suit filed by Pacquiao on Mayweather in 2009. 

September 25 – The two camps have settled in confidential terms, the defamation suit filed by Pacquiao on Mayweather in 2009.

2013

December 20 – A report claims Mayweather blamed Pacquiao’s association with Arum as the reason why the highly-anticipated boxing match will not happen.

December 24 – In his Instagram account, Mayweather posted a ‘Christmas card to the world’ wherein he implied how Pacquiao, knocked out in 2012, doesn’t deserve a big share of earnings if they do end up in the ring.

2014

January 3 – The Latino Post, which quoted YouTube boxing channel 78Sports TV, reported that the much-awaited showdown will be a go in September that year. But Pacquiao’s camp told the public to not believe the reports.

January 7 – Mayweather first proposed May 2, 2015 as the date of his fight with Pacquiao.

January 8 – In an interview, Mayweather took potshots at Pacquiao and his tax woes, and called the Pinoy boxer ‘a desperate dog’ as he was only chasing the super fight to get out of debt

January 14 – After a long time of refusing to respond to Mayweather, Pacquiao finally reacted, saying that the American boxer was “just a coward, insecure and [envious of] my accomplishments.”

January 17 – While on a tour in South Africa, Mayweather again mocked Pacquiao, saying he doesn’t need to fight Manny Pacquiao because he makes a lot of money fighting other fighters. He also ruled out a possible match between them.

August 26 – While promoting his November fight with Chris Algieri, Pacquiao hinted that he won’t ‘waste time waiting’ for Mayweather to accept the challenge.

September 20 – In an interview after winning his match against Marcos Maidana, Mayweather sounded off his conditions for the much-awaited fight: “It has to happen on Showtime pay-per-view only and Mayweather Promotions have to do the fight.” Pacquiao’s fights were televised by rival network HBO. 

September 26 – Mayweather once again posted in his Twitter page photos of Pacquiao’s knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez with the message: “Miss Pac Man is broke and desperate for a pay day. Your Pay-Per-View numbers are a joke.”

November 23 – After beating Algieri, Pacquiao once again pressure Mayweather on a match, saying “the people deserve that fight.”

November 24 – In a new commercial for American shoe store Foot Locker, Pacquiao poked fun at the situation surrounding the elusive Mayweather fight. 

November 25 – Pacquiao was reportedly open to taking a “smaller purse” in his match with Mayweather. His business manager, Eric Pineda, declined to discuss the amounts of money involved.

November 26 – Pacquiao’s victory over Algieri didn’t stop Mayweather from mocking him, as the American boxer posted a video of Pacquiao’s 2012 knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez to the accompaniment of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.”

December 6 – As the pressure on Mayweather rise after Pacquiao dominated Algieri, a report revealed that a “source close to Mayweather” says Floyd is now asking for two-thirds of the revenue. Arum, however, refuted the statement. 

December 13 – Mayweather said in an interview that he “absolutely” wanted to make the May 2 fight happen.

December 21 – Arum said the May 2 match shouldn’t push through because it’s “disrespectful to the Mexican people,” as the date will fall during the weekend of Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo. He added that it should be reserved for fighters of Mexican descent.

2015

January 11 – Both camps reportedly agreed to stage the boxing match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

January 14 – Arum revealed that Pacquiao has agreed to the terms which were presented to him by Mayweather for their 12-round encounter on May 2.

January 27 – The two boxers met each other face to face for the first time during an NBA game between the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks at Miami. Pacquiao said they exchanged phone numbers and would communicate with each other.

January 28 – Following their chance meeting during an NBA game, Mayweather personally visited Pacquiao at his hotel to have a closed-door dialogue. They worked out details over broadcast networks in what could be a major step forward to making the fight happen. 

February 20 – The May 2 Pacquiao-Mayweather boxing match was finally made official. – Rappler.com

SOURCES: Rappler, Wikipedia, fighthype.com