Britain's former two-time light-welterweight world champion Amir Khan
has said he "wants to be the next opponent for Floyd Mayweather after
watching ringside as the American outpointed Manny Pacquiao" in Las
Vegas on Saturday, according to the AFP. Mayweather "kept his unbeaten record with a unanimous points victory over Pacquiao." Mayweather said after the fight that he would "only get in the ring once more -- in September -- and Khan, 10 years younger at 28, believes he is ideally placed to be the American's final opponent." Khan: "I think the fight is there. I spoke to Len Ellerbe, his (Mayweather's) manager, I saw him in the
media room and he came over to say 'Hi ... he's ready when you are.' I
think Mayweather's team are wanting the fight. But then -- on the other
hand -- I've even spoken to Manny's team and they said the same thing.
(They said), 'Look Amir, I think it'd be good to have the fight between
you and Manny next.' So, I'm in a position where I could fight
either guy but I think Mayweather's the one I want, because I really
believe I have his number" (AFP, 5/3). In Sydney, Jacquelin Magnay reported Mayweather has "refused to countenance a repeat bout with his Filipino rival." Mayweather insisted he would retire after a final fight in September against an undeclared "easy" opponent and would not "extend his career to try and overtake Rocky Marciano," who holds the all-time record at 49 for the number of unbeaten fights. Immediately after the bout, Pacquiao asked for a rematch. Pacquiao said, "I caught him many times. I was never hurt. I was very surprised at the scores, I thought I won. I hit him many more times than he hit me. I had no problem handling his power" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 5/4).
IN SPAIN: Since it became official Mayweather and Pacquiao were going to fight, Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo's coverage of the bout helped the publication draw 3 million online visits. News from during the fight attracted 1.5 million hits, more than double the amount registered during the most recent Clásico betweent Barcelona and Real Madrid (Mundo Deportivo). EL CONFIDENCIAL reported Mediapro's Total Channel "had major problems with its broadcast." Its servers failed, "provoking chaos on social media, where criticism was enormous over the technical problems." The problems began at midnight local time, when "the massive avalanche of requests to view the fight caused Total Channel's system to fail." Despite the effort to fix the error, Mediapro's only solution was for its GolTV subscribers to follow the fight on Gol Stadium. Mediapro announced that it will refund its customers the price paid to watch the bout (EL CONFIDENCIAL, 5/3).
TWITTER REACTION: Below are notable reactions posted by former boxer Oscar de la Hoya, former Irish champion Barry McGuigan and several top footballers, including Australian Tim Cahill and German Lukas Podolski, among others.
