Champion boxer Floyd Mayweather ran his unbeaten streak to 47 straight fights by beating Argentine slugger Marcos Maidana by a unanimous decision in their bad-tempered rematch on Saturday.
Mayweather, who hasn't lost a fight since the 1996 Olympics, successfully defended his World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council welterweight belts and the WBC junior middleweight belt.
He improved to 47-0 as two judges scored it 116-111 and the third had it 115-112 for the champion.
"I didn't stay on the ropes. That was the difference," Mayweather said. "I felt I did better in the first fight. This fight I felt dry and dead."
Mayweather was a heavy favourite coming into the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino bout in Las Vegas after winning their first fight by a majority decision in May.
At one point, referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight and deducted a point from Maidana in the 10th round after he used his left forearm to push back Mayweather, who dropped to the canvas.
There is no love lost between the two boxers, who accused each other in the build-up to this fight of using dirty tricks in their first bout.
Both fighters used questionable tactics over the course of the fight, as Maidana appeared to bite the champ's hand in the eighth round and Mayweather delivered a low blow that buckled Maidana in the 11th.
For the second straight time, Mayweather boxing fans rushed and battled outside the MGM Grand Garden Arena after the fight.
A stampede in May resulted in a number of people being taken to hospital with various injuries after being trampled on and crushed against the walls of the arena entrance.
Witnesses said Saturday's incident also saw fans being knocked over as people pushed their way into the narrow corridor that leads out of the entrance. There were no initial reports of injuries.
Mayweather, 37, never allowed Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) to get into a proper rhythm in the rematch, landing the better right hands and counterpunches. He connected on 102 power punches compared to just 82 for Maidana.
Mayweather complained bitterly after the fight about Maidana allegedly biting him on the left hand in the eighth.
The two were in a clinch when Mayweather pulled his hand back sharply and complained to Bayless that he was bitten. Bayless stepped between them as Mayweather pointed and yelled at Maidana.
Mayweather said after the fight was over that his hand bothered him from the eighth round on.
"I couldn't feel my hand the rest of the fight," he said.
Maidana denied biting Mayweather, saying it was not possible while wearing a mouthguard.
"He thinks I am a dog. But no, I never bit him," Maidana said.
Mayweather will earn a minimum $US32 million ($A34.62 million) for the fight while Maidana's purse is $US3 million ($A3.25 million), double what he got for the first fight.
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