LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – After five years of bickering, posturing, and false alarms, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao stood face-to-face on Wednesday to mark the official countdown to one of boxing’s most anticipated fights.
Pacquiao, wearing a dark suit and tie, arrived on stage for the news conference as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blared through the speakers. He was followed by Mayweather, who was in a light suit with no tie and walked in to Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”
The two men then stood face-to-face and side-to-side, as a roar of camera shutters tracked their every move, before sitting with their respective camps in the only news conference they will hold to hype their May 2 fight.
And while neither boxer took questions from the media packed inside the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles, each exuded confidence.
“This is a fight that the world can’t miss,” Mayweather said from his podium. “I’m in the gym working right now, … pushing myself to the limit because I never wanted to win a fight so bad in my life.”
