Floyd Mayweather Jr., the unbeaten previous multiple-weight-class world champion beset by criminal charges, controversy and no-comments since dominating Shane Mosley 13 months ago, declared Tuesday he’ll return to the ring Sept. 17 against welterweight champion Victor Ortiz of Oxnard.
“My fans have been waiting of sufficient length,” Mayweather tweeted Tuesday morning.
Golden Boy Promotions is negotiating to place the bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Sin city, with HBO pay-per-view televising it.
“I am prepared to come back to the ring and give my fans a wonderful evening of boxing by fighting the very best available and then for me, which is Victor Ortiz,” Mayweather said in a very news release. “[Ortiz] is . . . an incredibly talented fighter who showed amazing skills, and heart, in his last performance against Andre Berto.
“At this stage of my career, necessities such as challenges I search for – a, strong, rising star looking to make his mark in boxing by beating me . . . but . . . Ortiz is simply gonna be another casualty, the 42nd one who tried and failed. Trust me, I am ready.”
Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 knockouts) won his World Boxing Council belt in April in a rugged unanimous-decision victory over formerly unbeaten champ Berto, a fight where both men were knocked down twice. Mayweather sat ringside as a guest of his, and Berto’s, manager Al Haymon.
“I knew sooner or later Floyd would fight, so when he saw the task of Victor . . . each of the stars aligned,” Golden Boy Chief Executive Richard Schaefer said.
Probably the most encouraging hint for boxing fans concerning the choice of the 24-year-old southpaw is the fact that Mayweather may be applying this bout to get ready to the mega-fight the sporting world has clamored for, to start dating against hard-hitting Filipino southpaw Manny Pacquiao.
“Floyd wants these latter fights, and also to call it a day,” said Nate Jones, Mayweather’s assistant trainer and close family friend. “I think that effortlessly my heart.”
After three failed negotiations, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is less upbeat: “I don’t know if Floyd’s planning for a fight with Manny. He’ll let us know. At this time, there is no dialogue.”
Until Tuesday’s tweet, the boxing world gotten that same cold shoulder from Mayweather. Efforts with the Times to interview him a week ago were met by responses of “Don’t ask me” and “Why ask a question you already know the reply to?” by among those closest to him.
Mayweather, 34, has been doing virtual hiding plus legal trouble since he earned $25 million for your Mosley bout.
Mayweather has been charged in three separate criminal cases in Sin city during the past year. The allegations involve domestic violence, as well as an accusation he attacked security guards inside his lavish Sin city residential community. He’s denied the charges.
Mayweather (41-0), the previous top pound-for-pound boxer on the planet, seemed to be in a uncensored video rant against Pacquiao a year ago; he later apologized. And Mayweather has tweeted photos of winning bet stubs on NBA and boxing made at the casino near his home.
Furthermore, court case records show Mayweather settled a $6-million-plus IRS tax lien a year ago, and owes a leasing company back rent while on an office. Mayweather all means being sued by a nightclub employee who alleges he was roughed up by among the boxer’s bodyguards Jan. 2.
He even offers rejected numerous offers to box.
Everyone from Nelson Mandela’s daughter to a Singapore businessman has pitched Mayweather for that dream date against Pacquiao, plus a small-time promoter who pushed for a lesser bout heard exactly the same thing: No.
No one close to the Ortiz talks breathed easy until Mayweather tweeted his OK. Ortiz’s manager, Rolando Arellano, said his fighter did “four back flips” when he saw Mayweather’s confirmation.
Unbeaten former world champion, who’s facing multiple felony charges, says he’ll fight welterweight champ Victor Ortiz Sept. 17. But a much-talked-about mega-fight with Pacquiao still isn’t in works.