Sixteen thousand people crammed into the MGM Grand’s Garden Arena in Las Vegas (regardless of the cost) among them a plethora of stellar Hollywood names and sporting legends - Jack Nicholson, Magic Johnson, Eva Longoria, Michael Jordan, Jennifer Lopez and Thomas Hearns.

Punters shelled out $50 a time in casinos across ‘The Strip’ just to watch the fight on CCTV. In addition, early indications point to a new pay–per–view record, breaking the 2-million buys barrier and the previous record of 1.99million for Holyfield v Tyson II (1997) and Lewis v Tyson (2002).

In typically confrontational fashion, Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather strutted into the arena wearing a sombrero and sporting Mexico’s national colours - green, white and red - on Cinco de Mayo (May 5) of all days. Insulting yet brilliant in equal measure; it was another mind game infuriating the pro-Oscar De La Hoya crowd. In keeping with the star–studded nature of the event, hip–hop star 50 Cent strode by Mayweather’s side, rapping live to the soundtrack of his new single.

If Mayweather was the overwhelming favourite with the bookmakers, there was no doubting who the people’s favourite was. Could this backing push De La Hoya towards a monumental victory?

From the first bell, De La Hoya was the aggressor for the first half of the contest. He was in great shape for his 34 years; a product of a two-month Puerto Rican training camp with sparring partner "Sugar" Shane Mosley (a great fighter in his own right and two-time victor over Oscar). Always moving forward, bullying and backing Mayweather into the corner, De La Hoya delighted the crowd with fast–hands and stinging body shots. Any other opponent may have buckled, but he was facing the "Pretty Boy", a man whose unblemished face fits the nickname. For all of the early pressure, Mayweather was largely unmarked by De la Hoya’s attacks.

Choosing to pop shots from distance and counter punch, Mayweather’s work was deadly accurate. In the fifth round, a right–hand counter rocked De La Hoya; the crowd gasped and were equally stung. It was a turning point in the bout. Although De la Hoya dug deep and continued to fire off flurries of punches, they were wild and untamed efforts, whilst Mayweather ducked, weaved and continued fire off rapier–like punches from distance. If De la Hoya took the early exchanges, Mayweather was evening the score in the middle rounds.

Come the end, De la Hoya looked tired and Mayweather began to assert his technical superiority. Despite a slobber knocker of a last round, where both men threw haymakers in an attempt to settle the score for good, Mayweather easily took the latter third of the contest.

The judges’ scorecards would settle the score; it was a close call. The first judge, Tom Kaczmarek scored it in favour of the "Golden Boy" by two rounds, to delight of the onlookers and the visible disgust of Mayweather. Chuck Giampa, a big fight regular, scored it more in Mayweather’s favour, this time by a measure of four rounds. A split decision, the third judge, Jerry Roth would decide the victor, giving it to Mayweather by two rounds.

The decision was a just one; I personally had it down as a draw but didn’t have any qualms with the winning verdict. Indeed, many of the fight’s expert observers gave the decision to Mayweather by two or three rounds.

In the end, Mayweather’s class told, beating the much bigger opponent with ring smarts. The punching stats backed up Mayweather’s claims, being more economical and more accurate (connecting with 43 per cent of his attacks as opposed to De la Hoya’s 20 per cent success rate). The victory sees Mayweather become a five-weight world champion and undefeated as a 38-fight professional.

Is this the end of the road for De La Hoya? Add your comments below or write an article giving your opinion.