Realities. Floyd Mayweather has always done a good line in them, especially those of the harsh variety, reports Joe Callaghan from Las Vegas.

As a capacity crowd, most of whom had paid barely believable sums to be there, booed to the rafters of the MGM Grand's Garden Arena, realties were slow in dawning for some.

Mayweather had just confirmed his placing as boxing's pre-eminent pound-for-pound perfectionist by dominating the Fight of the Century, dominating Manny Pacquiao in a way the Philippine champion had never been dominated before.

Mayweather was the unanimous victor on the cards of all three judges, who scored the welterweight unification bout 116-112, 116-112, 118-110. To the 16,507 amateur judges in attendance - many of whom spend their own professional lives in Hollywood weaving tales that are far removed from actuality and facts and the like - the richest fight in history, the most anticipated meeting for a generation had apparently been a much closer thing. But the booing masses were ignoring reality. That comes with the territory in this city of make-believe for grown-ups. It also comes with the territory when Mayweather is present.

The 38-year-old took his career mark to 48-0 with victory and through the boos, immediately insisted that he will fight just one more time before walking away from his immaculate career. Untroubled, undefeated and again clearly unloved, but the man who calls himself Money has never been at all bothered by his place in the public's heart.

"Manny is a hell of a fighter," he said afterwards. "Now I see why he's one of the guys that are at the pinnacle of the sport of boxing. He had some moments in the fight but I kept him on the outside, I was smart. When the history books are written the fight will have been worth the wait."

For those blow-in observers who were seduced by the six-year foreplay that led boxing to this record-breaking night, there would have been little in the way of agreement. Yet seeing Mayweather do his thing remains one of the great sights in the fight game. There is such a beauty to his movement, his defence, his calculation, most of all, his control. In 19 years of going to the ring and always coming out the victor, Mayweather has never been involved in a bout that would find its way into Fight of the Year contention.

This one won't vie for honours either. Yet all the honours still belong to Mayweather, irrespective of how his opponent saw things.

"I was never hurt. I was very surprised at the scores," said Pacquiao, whose own record now features six defeats. "I hit him many more times than he hit me. I had no problem handling his power. I thought I caught him many times. I thought I won."

The realities of that argument, though, were rapidly pouring from printers while Pacquiao spoke. Compubox's post-fight statistics read like an all-too familiar rap sheet for a vanquished Mayweather opponent. On total punches, jabs and power punches, Pacquiao had chased shadows like the 47 men who went before him. His connection percentage of all three were 19, 9 and 27 per cent respectively. Mayweather's were 24, 25 and 48 per cent. In total he landed 81 punches to Mayweather's 148.

Pacquiao had the round of the fight when, in the fourth, he rocked Mayweather with a left and another combination before pinning him to the ropes and unleashing fresh volleys. But he couldn't follow it up as Mayweather, two years older but ageing infinitely better than his opponent, moved as well as he ever has. He manoeuvred himself out of brief trouble and into a winning position from which he never looked like being removed, in spite of a couple of salvos in the ninth and tenth rounds.

"I thought we pulled it out," insisted Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach. "We pressed the action. I asked Manny for more combos between rounds. He may have been flat-footed a few but again I thought we won the fight."

The master trainer has now overseen two comprehensive defeats to the champion, having been in Oscar De La Hoya's corner for the previous "Fight of the Century" in 2007. There was no rematch after that and in spite of the Pacquiao camp's protestations, there is a good chance that there won't be a rematch now.

After six years of stalking Mayweather, Pacquiao found that getting him in the ring still didn't bring him any closer into range. On so many levels this half-billion-dollar super-fight proved that there's just too much distance between the fighters of this generation. Harsh that may be. But it is the reality.