Floyd "Money" Mayweather, the biggest draw in boxing and undefeated (40-0-0) welterweight champion, has announced that he is leaving HBO for its rival Showtime after fighting on HBO for the last 17 years.
Mayweather's new deal with Showtime will enable him to fight six times over the next 30 months, according to Showtime.com, with the first fight taking place on May 4th at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada against Robert Guerrero. According to Yahoo! the only date beyond May 4th that Mayweather has committed to is September 14th, but there is speculation that rising Mexican star Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is slated to fight on the May 4th undercard and be Mayweather's September opponent.
Mayweather, who is 35 years old, has only fought four times in the last four years, and the last time he fought six times in 30 months was a stretch from 2003-2006 that ended in a unanimous decision win over Zab Judah.
His new deal will involve revenue sharing with Showtime, according to the network, and in June Forbes ranked Mayweather as the highest-paid athlete in the world after pulling in $85 million.
His opponent on May 4th, Guerrero, is a well-regarded fighter who has won five straight unanimous decisions, most recently against Andre Berto. He has not lost since 2006 and will carry a 31-1-1 record into his bout with Mayweather. Despite the gaudy record, Mayweather will be expected to romp past Guerrero, with his eyes on a massively profitable fight with Alvarez.
Alvarez, whose record stands at 40-0-1 with 33 knockouts is expected to take on Austin Trout on the undercard, whose claim to fame is a win over Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto, who was also the last man Mayweather beat. Alvarez has won four of his last bouts by knockout, and figures to provide the offensive fireworks to contrast with Mayweather's defensive brilliance and counterpunching.
A fight between Alvarez and Mayweather could conceivably eclipse the profits of Mayweather's 2007 fight against Oscar De La Hoya, which set the record for most pay-per-view buys in boxing history at 2.7 million.
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