Mayweather was declared winner of the late-Saturday showdown at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena, in a 12-round fight that went to a judges' decision on points.

Mayweather had appeared to be in control of the fight after eight rounds, exploiting his longer reach and height to thwart the Filipino.

After the fight, Mayweather called Pacquiao, "a helluva fighter" after winning at least eight rounds from all three judges in their 12-round match. "Now I see why he's one of the guys that was at the pinnacle of boxing," Mayweather said.

The judges scored the fight 118-110, 116-112, 116-112 in the American's favor.

However, Pacquiao did not appear to agree with the judges, claiming it was he who landed the most punches on his opponent. "I thought I caught him many more times than he caught me," Pacquiao said. "I was never hurt. I was very surprised at the scores. I hit him more times than he hit me."

The showdown between the two top boxers of their generation was initially proposed five years ago. The 38-year-old champion Mayweather now with 48 victories and no defeats under his belt, vows to fight again in September.

With three titles in all at stake - the WBA, WBC and WBO - judges awarded Mayweather the match - dubbed the "Fight of the Century" - unanimously.

rc/se (AFP, Reuters)