Every once in a while the world of sports is blessed with a rivalry so prolific, so heated and so highly anticipated, that when the two opponents finally clash, the whole world notices.

Only a few rivalry matchups go down in history like Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson in the NBA Finals, the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees or Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier. But Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao squared off in what had been christened the “fight of the century” Saturday, May 2.

The two welterweight boxers are considered to be the most elite competitors in the sport. Combining for a total of 105 wins and 18 world titles, they have been side by side at the top of the boxing world for years.

The fight had been in the making for five years. However, by 2014, the rivals had no one left to fight but each other and announced a date for their once in a lifetime brawl in January 2015.

Despite the high level of illegal online streaming, the fight raked in $400 million for HBO and Showtime, breaking a Pay Per View record.

When something this prolific happens in the world of sports, everyone has an opinion. Before and after the fight the Observer took a survey of 100 students to get their opinions, predictions and reactions to the fight.

Student Predictions:

“Mayweather will win by knockout.  Floyd “Money” Mayweather’s superior reach and height will lead him to victory.  It will be extremely difficult for Manny Pacquiao to do any damage in this fight as Mayweather is said to have the best defense in all of boxing.”

– Zach Genn, Freshman

“I don’t know a lot about boxing, but I think Pacquiao will win. Even though Mayweather is undefeated in his professional career, every athlete has to lose at some point, and I think Pacquiao will be the one to take that from him.”

– Junior Annie Moshyedi

“I think it’s pretty evenly matched. Mayweather has the reach on his side but Pacquiao has the tenacity. It will probably be slow paced because of their age. I think Mayweather will come out on top.”

• Senior Marshall Rhodes

For those who did not watch themselves, Mayweather won by decision after the twelve rounds had ended. The decision was widely received as correct seeing as Mayweather landed more punches, and was more elusive throughout the match.

Student Reactions:

“I don’t really follow boxing, but I watched because of the hype of the fight. Honestly, it was not as exciting as I expected. I think Mayweather pretty clearly won though just based on what the announcers had been saying. I do not think I would spend the $100 to watch something like that again.”

– Senior Natalie Allen

“The fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao was a very interesting fight. The fight seemed like an even fight the whole way and both fighters had good hits. The only bummer was that there was no knockout and Mayweather played very defensively in the last few rounds.”

• Freshman Jiwoo Kim

“The fight was not nearly as exciting as I expected. It seemed like the two fighters were playing more defense than offense and for a casual fan it was really boring. I am glad I watched because it was such a big deal, but I expected more.”

• Sophomore Frannie Phillips