HBO, Showtime Announce Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao on May 2 in Las Vegas

After years of anticipation, the parties that matter most, HBO and Showtime have announced that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fight Manny Pacquiao on May 2.

The fight was revealed via press release on Friday. It remains unclear where the fight will take place, but it’s likely to emanate from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on the Las Vegas Strip.

“Everyone involved, including Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, knows this fight simply had to happen,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President of Showtime Sports. “All of us are thrilled to be able to deliver this event to boxing fans around the world. Now, for the second time under his current deal with Showtime Networks, Floyd Mayweather has agreed to fight an opponent that many people thought he’d never face. We set an all-time pay-per-view record with the first event back in September 2013, and we look forward to another record-breaking performance on May 2.”

On the opposite side of what some times was a brutal negotiating process, Ken Hershman, President of HBO Sports had this to say.

“Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather have been the two most prominent fighters in the sport of boxing for the past decade, and fight fans around the world have been clamoring for them to face each other,” Hershman said. “And now, on May 2nd, in what everyone believes will be the biggest boxing event of all-time, fight fans have been granted their wish. May 2nd will be a signature moment for the sport of boxing and HBO Sports is thrilled to be a part of this spectacular event. I know the fighters and their teams will be primed to excel and we plan to work closely with everyone involved to deliver the same level of performance from a broadcast perspective.”

Mayweather, the undefeated and undisputed pound for pound best boxer in the world was most recently in action against Marcos Maidana, defeating the Argentinian twice consecutively.

Pacquiao has bounced back from losses against Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez with wins over Brandon Rios, a rematch with Bradley and Chris Algieri.

Keep it locked to Sherdog.com for more as this story continues to unfold.

. @FloydMayweather just made it official on @shots pic.twitter.com/fEccabbh8K

— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports) February 20, 2015