Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced on Monday the opponent for his next fight: Marcos Maidana. The 30-year-old Argentinian leapfrogged Amir Khan for the spot in the May 3 welterweight bout against the undefeated Mayweather, ESPN reports.
"I will be fighting Marcos Maidana on May 3rd on Pay-per-view Showtime/CBS," Mayweather tweeted on Monday.
Maidana (35-3, 31 KOs) earned his chance to fight Mayweather after defeating Adrien Broner by unanimous decision on Dec. 14.
"Marcos Maidana's last performance immediately brought him to my attention," Mayweather said, via ESPN. "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."
Mayweather (45-0, 26 KOs) earned his 45th win by majority decision on Sept. 14 against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. The Alvarez fight broke records, including becoming the highest grossing pay-per-view ever with $150 million.
While the Maidana fight isn't expected to come close to breaking the records set by the Alvarez fight, it didn't stop Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer from doing his job and talking it up.
"Marcos Maidana is, without question, one of the most exciting fighters in the sport," said Schaefer. "He is must-see TV and one of those guys who people keep asking me, 'When is he fighting again,' because you know he is never in a boring fight. What we're going to see May 3 is two game-changers in action. Floyd Mayweather is the game changer. He has the biggest pay-per-views and the biggest fights. He's changed the game. Marcos Maidana has the game changer in his punch, in his fists. With one punch he can change the game of boxing.
"Mayweather is undefeated but with that one punch, Marcos Maidana can certainly change it all for Floyd. Floyd has to fight the perfect fight. Is he capable of doing that? Of course. But can Maidana connect for that one moment? Yes, of course. We saw it in the Broner fight. How is Floyd going to react once he gets hit by Maidana?"
The venue, which is still in the process of being locked down, could be announced by the end of the week.
