On his 37th birthday Monday, Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced on Twitter that he will next fight fellow welterweight titleholder Marcos Maidana on May 3.
The 147-pound unification bout will take place either in Las Vegas (site to be determined) or at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and will be carried by Showtime PPV.
Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer, who has worked with Mayweather since 2007 and also promotes Maidana, told ESPN.com that he hopes to have the venue locked in “in the next couple of days along with the ticket information.”
The fight will be the third of the 30-month, six-fight deal worth $200 million-plus that Mayweather signed with Showtime and parent network CBS last February. Mayweather has said he plans to retire at the conclusion of the contract.
Mayweather (45-0, 26 KOs) holds world titles at junior middleweight and welterweight, but will return to welterweight to make his second defense when he faces Maidana (35-3, 31 KOs), the 30-year-old crowd-pleasing slugger from Argentina who will be making the first defense of his belt.
Maidana, who landed the fight over fellow former junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan, won his world title in dramatic upset fashion by scoring two knockdowns in a unanimous decision against Adrien Broner in their Dec. 14 brawl at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
“Marcos Maidana’s last performance immediately brought him to my attention,” Mayweather said. “He is an extremely skilled fighter who brings knockout danger to the ring. I think this is a great fight for me and he deserves the opportunity to see if he can do what 45 others have tried to do before him — beat me.”
Said Maidana, “I am extremely happy to be facing Floyd Mayweather because it will give me the opportunity to show the world that I am the best welterweight in the division. I just handed a great defensive fighter his first loss and I plan to do the same to Mayweather. I don’t care whether he’s the best and undefeated. I will bring some real Latino power to him on May 3rd.”
