The Associated Press
Boxers Juan Manuel Marquez, right, of Mexico, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. face off during a news conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Saturday, May 2, 2009. Mayweather formally announced his return to boxing Saturday, less than a year after he retired and said he was through with the sport. The two will fight on July 18 in a fight with a 143-pound limit.
Monday, June 29, 2009 | 4 p.m.
Sun archives
The fight is back on, and so too is the hype.
HBO Sports announced today that Mayweather/Marquez 24/7 is set to air Saturday Aug. 29. The four-episode, all-access series spotlights the irrepressible superstar Floyd Mayweather’s return to boxing in a year and a half against the highly respected Mexican fighter Juan Manuel Marquez.
Mayweather, who is making his third appearance on the HBO reality series, suffered a rib injury earlier this month, forcing the July 18 bout to be delayed to Sept. 19 at the MGM Grand — Mexican Independence Day weekend.
“Now that the fight has been rescheduled, we are excited to resume production. This latest edition of ‘24/7’ features all the ingredients that we look for in greenlighting the ‘24/7’ franchise: big-time boxing stars, engaging storylines and in Floyd’s case, a larger-than-life personality that is tailor-made for reality television,” said Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports.
While Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) is generally regarded as the best boxer of his era, Marquez, (50-4-1, 37 KOs), is definitely not a warm-up opponent for a future showdown with current boxing pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.
“This weekend is not just an important weekend for boxing, but even more so for all of the Mexican and Mexican-American people I will be fighting for,” Marquez said last week in a released statement.
“(They) will have a great reason to celebrate my win over Mayweather, which will be for all of the people and for the entire country of Mexico that night.”
Other storylines for the series, which will air on subsequent Saturday’s, include the interaction between Mayweather and his uncle/trainer, Roger Mayweather, and Marquez’s solid relationship with his longtime trainer Ignacio Beristain.
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