By Mark Vester
The negotiations for a fight between the returning Floyd Mayweather Jr. and WBO/WBA lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez is heading down to the wire. With pressing talk of a press conference taking place coming Saturday in Las Vegas to announce a "Mayweather return," it doesn't give a lot of time to get a deal done with Marquez. The negotiations have stalled over the weight for the last few weeks. Neither side is willing to budge too much. Marquez, currently at 135, wants the fight closer to 140, while Mayweather wants it closer to 147. Marquez refuses to move up that high.
The appearance of promoter Don King, who recently met with Mayweather and is trying to work out a deal with the retired fighter, could be throwing a possible wrench in the talks for a Marquez fight.
Nacho Beristain, Marquez's manager/trainer, spoke with Mexican reporters over the weekend and claims that Golden Boy Promotions has already scheduled his fighter's return for September. The return would take place in Las Vegas on either September 12 or 19. Nobody is sure if the September date means the negotiations for a Mayweather fight are off, or simply a backup plan. If they happen to complete a deal with Mayweather, that fight would happen on July 18 on HBO pay-per-view.
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