Floyd Mayweather beats Manny Pacquiao: Snapshot of media reactions across the globe

Floyd Mayweather Jr. throws a left at Manny Pacquiao during their welterweight unification championship bout on May 2, 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. -- PHOTO: AFP
Floyd Mayweather Jr. throws a left at Manny Pacquiao during their welterweight unification championship bout on May 2, 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. -- PHOTO: AFP

Hours after Floyd Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao in the Fight of the Century, news media and sports sites were abuzz with instant commentaries on the historic boxing match.

Mayweather won the fight after 12 rounds in a unanimous decision by three judges.

In the end, many admitted that Mayweather had the upperhand in the ring, but Pacquiao was the crowd pleaser, even in Mayweather's home country.

Here's some of the analysis and reactions:

The Philippine Inquirer's headline read "Mayweather preserves perfect record, overcomes Pacquiao", but the coverage was clearly protective of the nation's favourite sportsman.

Emphasising the rousing support the crowd had for the "Pacman", a line in the article read: "Manny Pacquiao didn't get off the ring a loser as the crowd gave him its stamp of roaring approval."

The Inquirer's website ran a banner which said: "You're still our champ!"

A number of Philippines news sites, including The Philippine Star, carried the Presidential Palace's statement to Pacquiao.

President Benigno Aquino commended Pacquiao despite the latter's defeat. The leader also expressed his gratitude to Pacquiao for being an inspiration to Filipinos, the paper said.

The President also encouraged Pacquiao to spend more time with his family.

Popular news site Rappler.com led with straight coverage of the match in "Mayweather defeats Pacquiao as skill prevails over will". It also did a round up of the best memes before and during the fight.

Quite a few US media outlets concluded that Mayweather outboxed and outfoxed Pacquiao.

CNN called Mayweather a "wily tortoise" with his defensive tactics: "Like the wily tortoise up against the hare, the man with the impenetrable shell looked to be in control."

"Floyd Mayweather stands alone" ESPN said in a piece that praised Mayweather's "vintage performance".

The New York Times said "the action in the ring did not live up to the hype", but also called Mayweather's dodge and jab stategy a "tactical dream".

"The trick that no one has ever been able to solve against Mayweather is how to get in close on him to land good punches," it said.

The BBC called the match a "defensive masterclass". It concluded that the audiences were probably disappointed, but "the fact that Mayweather won so handily was more proof of his unparalleled genius".

Sports site Bleacher Report called Mayweather "the best fighter of his generation". While noting his failures in his personal life, it has crowned him one of the greats of boxing.

"Here, in the final lap of both men's legendary careers, Floyd pulled ahead to stay, leaving Pacquiao in a distant second place," it said.

The headline on France's L'Equipe screamed "Mayweather remains undefeated!", while italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport called Mayweather "king of the welterweight".

The German Bild called Mayweather's victory "well-deserved", and predicted that there will not be a re-match between the two.

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