Floyd Mayweather Jr. will "return to defend his welterweight world titles against Andre Berto on Sept. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas" in a bout that will be televised on Showtime PPV, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. Mayweather will be fighting at the MGM Grand "for the 12th consecutive time." The bout, which Mayweather repeatedly has said will be his last, is the "last on a six-fight deal he signed" with Showtime/CBS in '13. The fight was announced "just 40 days before fight night, which is very short notice" for a major PPV. Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said that the reason was because they "wanted to announce other fights on the card at the same time." Rafael noted many believe that Showtime "was negotiating with Mayweather for rights to future fights should he stick to his retirement plans but later decide to come back for a potential 50th consecutive victory," but Showtime and Ellerbe "denied that." There also were discussions about "putting the fight on CBS as opposed" to PPV, but those discussions "did not pan out for a variety of reasons." Ellerbe said that to put the fight on CBS, they would have "needed much more time to pull it off" (ESPN.com, 8/4). A Showtime spokesperson said the to-be-determined cost of the PPV would be "in line" with past events. CBSSPORTS.com's Lyle Fitzsimmons noted some "have suggested Mayweather will fight in September to complete the Showtime deal, then make himself a broadcast free agent while allowing No. 50 to go to the highest TV bidder" (CBSSPORTS.com, 8/4). Meanwhile, in L.A., Lance Pugmire cites a boxing source as saying that reports that CBS/Showtime is obligated to pay Mayweather $30M-plus is a "myth" (L.A. TIMES, 8/5).
