HBO will distribute the Sept. 17 return to the boxing ring of undefeated fighter and mega pay-per-view draw Floyd Mayweather.
Mayweather, who has not fought since May 2010, will fight World Boxing Council welterweight champion Victor Ortiz, according to HBO officials. It's the first marquee PPV boxing event for HBO, although the network did distribute an April 9 Erik Morales-Marco Maidana PPV event.
Showtime PPV has distributed the two biggest PPV events of the year, including the March 12 Miguel Cotto- -Ricardo Mayorga fight and the May 7 Manny Pacquiao-Sugar Shane Mosley fight. The Pacquio-Mosley event drew more than 1.3 million PPV buys.
"The return of Floyd Mayweather is big news for the sport of boxing," said Mark Taffet, senior vice president of HBO Pay-Per-View. "September 17 is a terrific event for the industry."
Mayweather, along with Pacquiao, have been the biggest PPV draws in the sport over the past three years. Mayweather's last fight, a May 2010 bout against Mosley, drew 1.4 million PPV buys.
The site for the fight has not been set, according to HBO. Press conferences to announce the fight will be held June 28 in New York and June 29 in Los Angeles, said network officials.
