Boxing: Arguably the greatest dream match in boxing history has been officially confirmed. Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao (57-5-2) and Floyd “Money” Mayweather (47-0) have finally reached a deal to fight on May 2, 2015, in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Pacquiao is set to receive 40% of the shares earned from the fight while Mayweather is set to receive 60% of the shares from the bout. The bout has been deemed “The Fight” and “The Fight of the Century” by many boxing fans. The two boxing camps have been negotiating for this bout since 2009, but failed to reach a deal until February 20, 2015. The average price for tickets to go see the bout average at $9,218 and the Pay-per-view pricing for HD quality is $99.95 and for standard definition, the price is $89.95. The fight is expected to be the most watched and highest grossing fight in boxing history. The current record for the highest grossing boxing match is held by the 2013 Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs Floyd Mayweather bout. Mayweather defeated Saul “Canelo” Alvarez by majority decision, with the judges scoring the bout (114-114, 116-112, and 117-111). Canelo suffered his first loss of his career while Mayweather remained undefeated. The fight earned $150 million from Pay-per-view viewers.
ESPN: Keith Olbermann, sports commentator for ESPN, has been suspended from the network after calling Penn State students “pitiful.” The cause for this incident was established when the NCAA restored the formerly vacated Penn State football wins. 111 wins were vacated from the Penn State football program after former assistant head coach, Jerry Sandusky, was charged and convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse with children. “I’d like to thank the students and alums of Penn State for proving my point about mediocrity of their education and ethics,” Olbermann said. Shortly after, Olbermann apologized, saying “ I apologize for the PSU tweets. I was stupid and childish and way less mature than the students there who did a such a great fundraising job.”
NFL Combine: The top two quarterbacks in the NFL Combine, Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston, impressed at the combine. Both quarterbacks have won the Heisman Memorial Trophy, with Winston winning it in 2013 and Mariota winning it in 2014. Each quarterback dazzled with their arm strength and accuracy as they had no problem throwing the ball to open receivers. However, Mariota displayed greater athleticism, as he had a vertical leap of 36 inches and a broad jump of 10’1. Winston had a vertical leap of 28.5 inches and a broad jump of only 8’7. Mariota ran a 4.52 40 yard dash, the fastest 40 time by a quarterback since Robert Griffin III’s 40 time in 2011 (4.41). On the other hand, Jameis Winston ran a 4.97 40 yard dash, nearly half a second slower than Mariota. According to many sources, the two quarterbacks are expected to be drafted to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1st pick) or the Cleveland Browns (6th pick).