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Two female journalists say Floyd Mayweather's team has banned them from covering fight

Two of the biggest names in sports journalism said they won't be covering Saturday night's fight because their credential requests were blocked by Floyd Mayweather's team — a charge the fighter's PR team denied.

Here's what CNN's Rachel Nichols and ESPN's Michelle Beadle said on Twitter early Saturday morning.

Mayweather spokesperson Kelly Swanson later took to Twitter to deny the reporters' claims, saying Nichols was indeed credentialed and that Beadle had been credentialed through HBO Boxing.

"No one including ME banned Rachel Nichols from covering the fight," Swanson wrote.

Swanson later told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports that Nichols had been credentialed all along but that there was some initial confusion. She also said it was up to CNN to decide which of its credentialed reporters would sit in the one arena seat that has been allotted to the organization.

Beadle tweeted on Saturday afternoon that her credential had been re-approved but that she wouldn't be attending the fight.

Both Nichols and Beadle have been critical of Mayweather and his record of domestic violence. Nichols even conducted a heated interview with Mayweather last fall that she re-posted on Twitter on Saturday.

Needless to say, it was not a good look for Mayweather, whose record of poor and abusive behavior toward women has been one of the main storylines leading up to the fight with Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather attracted plenty of instant criticism for the reported credentialing decision, including one strong take from boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya.

Credential requests for the fight were administered by Magna Media.