Mayweather-Marquez rescheduled for Sept. 19

By DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer

Floyd Mayweather’s return to boxing is back on, although the new date won’t make things any easier for him against hard-hitting Juan Manuel Marquez.

The former pound-for-pound king, who was slated to fight Marquez next month at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, issued a statement Friday that said he’s been cleared by doctors following a rib injury and the fight will go off Sept. 19— the weekend after Mexican Independence Day.

“I am relieved to be cleared to fight,” Mayweather said. “Trust me, September 19 is a great weekend for boxing, and all of my fans—of which there are many Mexicans too—can certainly hold on to their hats and sombreros when I get back in to the ring.”

Mayweather, who is coming out of a brief retirement, damaged cartilage in his ribs during training two weeks ago. He was committed to rescheduling the fight, even though more lucrative opponents like Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao became available.

Ticket sales reportedly had been slow for the pay-per-view event, but they should get a significant boost because of the new date. Mexican Independence Day is Sept. 16, and the bout will follow that Saturday—a weekend that had long belonged to Oscar De La Hoya.

The “Golden Boy,” whose promotional company handles Marquez, retired earlier this year.

“This particular fight did extremely well on ticket sales. Several price categories sold out,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told The Associated Press. “When the fight was announced to be postponed, we were over $5.6 million in ticket sales and it was shaping up to be one of the largest non-heavyweight fights in the history of Las Vegas, not involving Oscar.

“We were ahead of what Pacquiao and (Ricky) Hatton did with the same amount of time to promote.”

Schaefer, who was busy with this weekend’s 140-pound title fight between Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana, said he was initially concerned Mayweather might be out longer.

“We were hoping it would be OK to be medically cleared for September, because it’s the biggest day every year for pay-per-view in the United States,” Schaefer said. “Almost like the Super Bowl weekend—you just knew that in September there’s a big fight.”

Mayweather, the former five-division champ, hasn’t fought since knocking out Hatton in December 2007, when he was still reveling in his breakthrough victory over De La Hoya. His unexpected retirement last year came in a statement issued by his publicist, just as he was gaining mainstream attention with appearances on “Dancing with the Stars” and at WrestleMania.

His aura seemed to have dimmed over the past year, though, and there have been reports that Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) has been having financial hardships. On top of that, Pacquiao has risen to become boxing’s best all-around fighter and most compelling attraction.

That alone may have been enough to lure “Money” Mayweather back into the ring.

His handlers began fielding offers for fights several months ago—few believed that Mayweather would stay retired—and he eventually settled on Marquez, who’s ranked highly on most pound-for-pound lists but is a relative unknown among mainstream sports fans.

Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs), who has fought to a draw and close split-decision loss against Pacquiao, is coming off riveting knockouts of Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz, which earned him the vacant WBO lightweight title in February.

He’ll be moving up to fight Mayweather at a catch weight of 143 pounds, eight more than Marquez has ever fought and the lightest Mayweather has been since 2005.

“I am happy that Mayweather has been cleared to fight and we can get down to business,” Marquez said. “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.

“(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.”

Clottey prepared to face Cotto—and crowd

By DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP)—Joshua Clottey will walk into sold-out Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, just a few miles from where the Ghana native now makes his home in the Bronx, and almost certainly face a wall of vocal opposition.

It’ll be the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade, and thousands of flag-carrying fans will have turned out to see charismatic welterweight champion Miguel Cotto defend his title.

Clottey, himself a former champion, insists he won’t hear any of it.

“Trust me, when I come to the ring I’m a very, very deaf guy,” Clottey said. “The only thing I do is I see people, but I don’t hear what they’re talking about. This is business, we’re in the ring. He’s hitting my body, he’s hitting my head—I don’t have time for that.”

Cotto certainly brings the name recognition to the WBO title fight, and he’s the big reason that even the cheap seats will be gone at the Garden. HBO is expecting a huge television audience, and even New York sports stars like Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran are trying to secure tickets.

“I keep hearing boxing is dead, boxing is dying—I’ve always been incredulous, because I don’t know what anybody is talking about,” Top Rank boss Bob Arum said. “Just look at this.”

Promotional company Top Rank has turned the Puerto Rican Day weekend into Cotto’s showcase, and the popular fighter has embraced it every bit as much as his fans.

His first fight in boxing’s so-called Mecca, when Cotto (33-1, 27 KOs) was just beginning to build his reputation, was a knockout of Mohamad Abdulaev. He’s gone on to beat Brooklyn-based fighters Paul Malignaggi and Zab Judah before delirious crowds that show up to the Garden en masse to see their hero sometimes just once a year.

He’s never before failed them, his only loss a controversial one to Antonio Margarito nearly a year ago in Las Vegas, and doesn’t plan to against another hard-punching challenger.

“Joshua Clottey? I’ve prepared myself for anything he can bring that night,” Cotto said Wednesday, at the final pre-fight news conference. “The question is, is he prepared for the kind of Miguel Cotto that’s going to climb into the ring?”

While the Puerto Rican star is well known, Clottey is very nearly an enigma.

A native of Accra, the capital and most populous city of the west African nation of Ghana, Clottey began fighting in small shows in Africa. He caught the eye of promoter Panos Eliades, who also promoted Lennox Lewis, and Clottey wound up fighting in Europe for several years.

He eventually made his way to New York, where he settled in the Bronx.

Considered large for a welterweight, it didn’t take long for Clottey (35-2, 20 KOs) to step into the ring with Margarito. He was leading that title fight in December 2006 until he broke his hand in the fourth round, and while Clottey gamely pressed on, Margarito handed him his first loss in nearly seven years.

It took several months for the hand to heal, but Clottey returned to beat former lightweight champ Diego Corrales, beginning yet another impressive string of victories: Felix Flores, previously unbeaten Shamone Alvarez, Jose Luis Cruz and Judah.

His bout against the tough Brooklyn fighter last August was a back-and-forth slugfest, which was stopped by referee Robert Byrd because of a nasty cut over Judah’s right eye. By the slimmest of margins—one point on two scorecards— Clottey was given the technical decision.

His bout against Cotto was supposed to be a unification fight, Clottey having won the IBF title, but politics and sanctioning bodies got in the way.

Rather than fight a string of undeserving challengers, Clottey simply vacated the belt to take the much larger and more lucrative fight against Cotto — on easily the biggest day of the year for Puerto Rican fight fans in New York.

“Even if I lose, I’ll make a good account of myself, and they’ll ask for me. The people that are picking me to win the fight, they’re making a very good decision,” Clottey said.

“I don’t know how tough he’s going to be, but anybody who chooses me to be the winner, they’ll win, because that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll win the fight.”

NFL star Jacobs taking swing at boxing biz

By DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP)—Brandon Jacobs isn’t waiting until his NFL playing days are over before deciding what he wants to do next.

The New York Giants star is breaking into professional boxing—but not as a promoter or fighter, although the 6-foot-4, 260-pounder might make a bruising heavyweight. Instead, Jacobs wants to be a manager, the behind-the-scenes guy who signs and molds young fighters, just maybe taking one or two of them to the top.

“I do have my day job, but this is something I look at and take very seriously, because it’s another guy’s livelihood in the palm of my hand,” Jacobs told The Associated Press on Wednesday at a news conference ahead of Miguel Cotto’s welterweight title fight against Joshua Clottey.

“I’ve been wanting to get into this business after I was done playing.”

The average career of an NFL player is 3 1/2 seasons, according to the NFL Players Association. Even stars like Jacobs, who ran for 1,089 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Giants last season, are usually finished by their early 30s.

Some open restaurants and sports bars, some begin working in financial services, others end up in the broadcast booth. But the 26-year-old Jacobs has always had an interest in the “sweet science,” and put together an impressive amateur career growing up in Louisiana. He lost only twice in more than 30 fights.

When Jacobs began considering colleges, he could only find a few that even had boxing clubs. He wound up at Southern Illinois, hung up the gloves and dedicated himself to football, and a few years later helped lead the Giants to the Super Bowl.

“I’ve been into boxing a long time, boxing is something that has driven me very much,” said Jacobs, who still tries to spar in the gym once in a while.

“I’ve been wanting to get into the business after I was done playing. If I didn’t fight, I wanted to get into the promotion business, but I hear from people that’s a lot of headache, so I wanted to do something that was more personable with the fighters.”

Jacobs has known former junior welterweight champion Kendall Holt for years, and when Holt had a falling out with his management team, he asked Jacobs to fill in. Next thing he knew, Jacobs was signing papers that made him a pro manager.

While admittedly a novice when it comes to the intricacies of contracts, securing venues, marketing and promotions, Jacobs has found plenty of support from the boxing community.

Top Rank, one of the biggest promotional companies in the sport, has lent some guidance, and Jacobs is teaming with longtime manager Pat Lynch, who helped guide the career of former champ and popular brawler Arturo Gatti.

“We’re looking to sign some young fighters. We’ve got one on the radar screen we’ll try to have under contract next week,” Lynch said of their newfound partnership. “Brandon is a very knowledgeable guy in the boxing business. He knows a lot.”

Jacobs plans to be ringside for the Cotto-Clottey fight Saturday night, and he’s bringing more than a dozen of his Giants teammates with him.

His constant discussion of the sport has turned many of them into boxing fans as well.

“It’s early for me, so I’m just trying to get my feet wet,” Jacobs said. “And we’re just trying to get things set in stone and just trying to get my next career going right now.”