We all know Floyd Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, with many Pacquiao fans saying he was robbed because the whole thing was a giant fix.
With the “fight of the century” failing to live up to most of the hype, social media users turned their attention to the action outside the ring.
Among the hot topics, a late-night host’s unexpected entrance and a two-time Oscar winner’s “weird uncle” look. Here are five moments that were nearly as buzzworthy as the boxing.
Jimmy Kimmel serves as Pacquiao’s hype man
The late-night host walked Pacquiao to the ring. Kimmel landed the coveted gig after begging Pacquiao to be part of his entourage last month on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Pacquiao apparently decided it was a good idea, or maybe he wants to walk behind Kimmel when the host takes the stage for his monologue one of these late nights and yell, “Work the body!”
The two-time Oscar winner became a Twitter trending topic for rocking what some dubbed “grandad” attire. People’s 1996 Sexiest Man Alive sat ringside, proudly sporting a blue track suit, black baseball cap and an uncharacteristic mustache. “NFL Sunday Ticket Red Zone” host Andrew Siciliano tweeted, “Only Denzel can show up in a sweatsuit and a Yankees hat and get away with it.” At least he skipped the slippers.
Foxx let loose with the vocal gymnastics during his soulful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the fight got underway. His performance was widely panned on social media with Sporting News writer Sean Gentille asking on Twitter, “What song is Jamie Foxx singing?” Another Twitter user suggested Foxx’s version of the national anthem would have gotten him yanked off the stage at the Apollo T
Suge Knight had a lot riding on the fight
Knight wasn’t ringside for obvious reasons. But the hip-hop mogul, who’s facing a litany of charges including murder, apparently had plenty on the line. Last week, Knight’s attorney Matthew Fletcher told the Los Angeles Times that if Mayweather won the fight, he would cover Knight’s $10 million bail. Fletcher claimed a lawyer from Mayweather’s camp had reached out to him asking for details on bailing Knight out, because the two stars are good friends. TMZ Sports disputed the Times’ report, quoting a “trusted” but unidentified member of Mayweather’s camp as saying “Suge’s lawyer was just plain wrong.” As of Sunday evening, Knight remained at L.A.’s Men’s Central Jail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s inmate locator website.
One person who wasn’t caught up in the widely reported logjam of private jets at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport is Jon Voight. A Wrap insider reports the star of Showtime’s “Ray Donovan” had a front row seat on the 6:20 am Southwest Airlines Flight on Sunday morning from Las Vegas to Burbank. The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was a rare Showtime-HBO co-production, and drew big names from both network’s shows. Voight’s co-star Liev Schreiber provided voiceover narration on an HBO behind-the-scenes doc leading up to the bout. Hugh Dancy, Claire Danes, Bridgid Coulter and Don Cheadle also made the scene.