Mayweather, Pacquiao hype fight

— -- The scene was something that millions of sports fans thought would never happen: Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, the two best fighters in the world and the sport's two biggest stars, standing face to face at long last to announce the big fight -- one of the biggest ever.

The long-awaited moment finally played out on Wednesday afternoon at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles, where the fighters were introduced at the one and only joint news conference they will conduct to hype the May 2 fight -- which doesn't need much hype at this point -- until fight week.

They will fight to unify their welterweight world titles, determine pound-for-pound supremacy and determine the king of their era on May 2 (a joint Showtime PPV and HBO PPV telecast) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"I believe this is what you are waiting for since five years ago," Pacquiao said from the podium, referencing the long haul for the sides to finally make a deal. "The fight is on and we're very excited. Both of us will undergo hard training and we will do our best on May 2 to make you happy."

When Mayweather came to the podium he was low-key and soft-spoken, saying, "It's been a long road, but we're here now.

"May 2, the fight of the century. It's all about the best fighting best and Pacquiao is one of the best fighters of this era. Everything is about timing. I think we couldn't choose a better time. This is a fight that the word can't miss. It's an unbelievable matchup. Action-packed fight. I'm in the gym working right now, dedicating myself to the sport, pushing myself to the limit because I never wanted to win a fight so bad in my life and I'm pretty sure he is going to push himself to the limit because he wants to win it the same way I want to win it."

And then they posed together again. And, again, it was hard to believe it was finally happening.