MAYWEATHER RETURNS, FIGHTS MARQUEZ

Floyd Mayweather Jr returns to the ring from his supposed retirement to fight WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand on July 18.

The official announcement was made hours before the Pacquiao-Hatton showdown which Mayweather Jr said “tonight any man c an win. Its  agamble. But when you are betting on Floyd that’s for sure money.”

Marquez who fought Pacquiao twice in what were considered controversial decisions has been chasing Pacquiao for a third fight after Pacquiao dropped him three times in the first round of their initial encounter where Marquez counter-punched his way to salvage a draw and a rematch in which Pacquiao dropped Marquez in round four to win a close split decision to grab Marquez’s WBC super featherweight title.

Marquez said if he wanted to be the best fighter in the world he had to be the best claiming that Mayweather Jr was the best fighter in the world. Marquez said their July 18 fight was to decide who is the No.1 fighter in the world.

Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya didn’t endear himself to Filipinos for sure when he said “I don’t care what they say, Juan (Manuel Marquez) beat him (Manny Pacquiao.) So I believe Juan can beat Mayweather. Marquez can never be counted out.”

The statements were made before Pacquiao, in a spectacular performance, dropped Hatton twice in the opening round and knocked him out with one second to go in the second proving beyond doubt his stature as the pound-for-pound king no matter what Mayweather, Marquez and De La Hoya.

De La Hoya who was seen on the Solar Sports satellite coverage of the Pacquiao-Hatton fight on pay-per-view at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday wearing a Hatton mask was roundly booed by thousands of fans not merely at the coliseum but in other venues around the country.

Golden Boy Promotions vice president and international matchmaker Eric Gomez informed www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports about the Mayweather Jr – Marquez battle and said “people think its easy” for the bigger Mayweather Jr who  has to come down to the agreed upon weight of 143 pounds, indicating that Marquez could offset the size with his technical skills.