By Robert Morales and Rick Reeno
The return of Floyd Mayweather Jr. was announced during an early press conference on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mayweather faces Juan Manuel Marquez in the main event of an HBO pay-per-view on July 18. The press conference was very strange because there were discrepancies about the weight at which this fight will be contested. Based on some of the information provided to the media, many have assumed the fight will take place at 143-pounds, but there appeared to be confusion at the actual press conference and different weights were floating around.
When BoxingScene.com spoke with Eric Gomez, Golden Boy matchmaker, and asked him for an answer on the exact catch-weight, Gomez said “143, give or take a pound.” When asked to clarify, he said “144 max.” But Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy president, disputed that by saying that 143 pounds was the limit.
BoxingScene would later ask Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy. and he said that he didn't know, that we would have to “go ask Leonard Ellerbe.” Ellerbe is CEO of Mayweather Promotions, which is actually the lead promoter for this fight.
According to Ellerbe - “It's a welterweight fight.” That means anything over 140 and no higher than 147. When asked to be more specific as to whether there is a catch-weight of 143 or 144, Ellerbe said, “It's a welterweight fight. The weight doesn't matter. It's going to be a great fight.”
Finally, Schaefer and Al Haymon, Mayweather's business advisor, said there will be a special news release sent out announcing the agreed upon weight.