Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Result, Highlights and Post-Fight Controversies

After all the hype and expectation, it was all relatively easy for Floyd Mayweather in the end on Saturday night. He beat Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision in Las Vegas to extend his unbeaten record to 48-0.

Pacquiao was frustrated throughout the fight as Mayweather stayed out of range, the Filipino only able to land single punches rather than devastating combinations. 

Mayweather himself was accurate and busy, as his jab and right hand consistently landed. In the end, two of the judges gave Pac-Man four of the 12 rounds, and the other just two, per Top Rank's Crystina Poncher:

Neither fighter was knocked down during the fight, but Mayweather somewhat surprisingly had the better of the opening rounds.

Pacquaio came into the fight in the middle rounds, and he landed arguably the biggest blow of the night as he had Mayweather on the ropes in the fourth, per Business Insider:

However, Money kept his composure and took the fight back to the centre of the ring late on. He dominated the latter rounds with excellent movement and right-hand blows, and he raised his hand in triumph seconds before the final bell rang. 

HBOBoxing provided a flavour of what it was like for the 16,507 fans inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena:

It was a deserved victory for Mayweather, and one which cements his place in the history books as the greatest boxer of the current era.

He threw more punches than Pacquiao and was more accurate, per CompuBox via NBC's Chris Mannix:

In the wake of the fight, it was revealed that Pacquiao went into the contest carrying a right shoulder injury which he picked up three to four weeks ago, per Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.

Nevada boxing commissioners reportedly denied a request from the Pacquaio camp for him to take an anti-inflammatory shot in his dressing room ahead of the bout. As BBC Sport's Dan Roan reports, Nevada Athletic Commission say they received the request too late in the day:

Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, insisted the decision of the Commission affected the outcome of Saturday's fight, per The Associated Press' Tim Dahlberg via ABC News: "The ruling made tonight affected the outcome of the fight."

The shoulder injury is surely the reason why Pacquiao's punch count was so low, as the 36-year-old is usually an all-action fighter, throwing punches often and from all angles.

That was not the case on Saturday night, and when he did throw, he landed very few telling blows, boxing analyst Corey Erdman noting after the fight that other challengers have fared better against Mayweather, per Bleacher Report:

However, Pacquiao said in the ring after the fight had been called for Mayweather that he believed he did enough to win:

Golden Gloves CEO Rodney Berman felt that the fight was incorrectly scored, suggesting that Pacquiao deserved more from the judges, per Marc Lewis of Eyewitness News: "It was very lopsided and it must be justice to Pacquiao to win 118 and it very clear that he won some rounds clearly."

However, Mayweather was clearly the better fighter on the night.

While Pacquiao's shoulder injury may have played its part in his defeat, Mayweather's defence and counterpunching both deserve praise.

Money orchestrated the fight right from the start, and his 48th career victory rarely looked in doubt.

While not the blockbuster, all-action fight many wanted, Mayweather did exactly what was needed to win, and he will reap the rewards from boxing's richest-ever bout.