Mayweather makes his long awaited return against Ortiz

After more than a year since his last fight, undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0-0, 25 KOs) is heading back to the ring in September against the current WBC champion, Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KOs). Mayweather’s last fight ended with a unanimous decision verdict against Shane Mosley way back in May of 2010. He announced that he will be fighting Ortiz through his Twitter account. “My fans have been waiting long enough. Floyd Mayweather vs Victor Ortiz. September 17, 2011 for the WBC World Championship," Mayweather tweeted. When he steps into the ring that day, Mayweather will be coming off a 16-month layoff. Ortiz won the WBC welterweight title with a scintillating unanimous decision victory over Andre Berto, in what could very well be a Fight of the Year candidate. In that fight, Ortiz had to pick himself up from the canvass twice but he persevered and kept attacking to win the WBC title. He was one of the brightest in boxing and was even named ESPN.com’s prospect of the year in 2008 but suffered from a rough patch in his career until he decided to go up in weight and challenge Berto for the WBC title. Back in 2009, Ortiz pulled a “no mas" in a fight against Marcos Rene Maidana. Many labeled him as a quitter back then but he exorcised the ghost of that fight when showed grit and determination to win his first world title. “I always thought that Ortiz will fight better at 147," Freddie Roach said during Manny Pacquiao’s training in Baguio. “He looks so much stronger when he does not have to cut that much weight before the fight," he added. With this fight, Ortiz is set to earn much more than the $400,000 he made in his last fight. The venue of the fight has not been finalized yet but Las Vegas is the leading contender. HBO will most likely get the fight as Mayweather is well-connected with the cable giant. Mayweather was in the arena to watch Ortiz win the WBC welterweight title against Berto and it was apparent from that point on that he wanted to fight Ortiz. The young champion’s style is fan-friendly. He attacks non-stop and he is not afraid to mix it up. However, this style is also perfect for the defensive-minded Mayweather. This could very well be Mayweather’s tune-up for a possible mega-fight with Pacquiao in the first half of 2012. -- Carlo L. Pamintuan/OMG, GMA News