Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced Tuesday he will return to the ring for the first time in a year to fight Robert Guerrero on May 4, probably at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, as part of a new deal with Showtime and CBS for up to six fights in 30 months.
Mayweather, 35, hasn’t fought since May 5, 2012, when he defeated Miguel Cotto by unanimous decision.
He has previously been a mainstay on HBO pay-per-view, his 2007 victory over Oscar De La Hoya standing as the most lucrative event in boxing history.
In a statement Tuesday, Mayweather announced the “groundbreaking” deal that will include a “unique revenue-sharing arrangement between Showtime PPV and Mayweather,” and “will enable him to fight up to six times over a period of 30 months.”
Full details were not released, and given Mayweather’s propensity for taking long layoffs, his fighting that often would appear far-fetched.
Now established as boxing’s unquestioned top pound-for-pound fighter following Manny Pacquiao’s knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in December, Mayweather (42-0, 26 knockouts) will defend his World Boxing Council welterweight belt in the Guerrero bout.
Mayweather has taken lengthy layoffs of 21 and 16 months before, returning to dominate Marquez by decision in 2009 and knocking out Victor Ortiz in 2011, respectively.
This break included a more than two-month stay in a Las Vegas jail last summer as part of his sentence for his role in a domestic violence case involving the mother of three of his children, Josie Harris.
Since his release, Mayweather has taken to attending NBA games in Los Angeles, posting photos of winning and losing betting tickets on Twitter, snowboarding and spending time with friends, whom he refers to as “The Money Team.”
He announced on Twitter earlier this month that his father, Floyd Sr., would take on a more prominent role as his trainer for this next fight.
The pair have engaged in heated arguments, including one that aired in 2011 on HBO’s reality television series, “24/7.”
Roger Mayweather, the fighter’s uncle and prior trainer, has battled the effects of diabetes in recent years.
Guerrero, 29, of Gilroy, Calif., is 31-1-1 with 18 knockouts, and most recently produced a compelling triumph Nov. 24 in Ontario, knocking down former world welterweight champion Andre Berto in both the first and second rounds en route to a unanimous-decision victory.
Guerrero is a southpaw who took more than a year off from the sport himself to help his wife, Casey, successfully battle life-endangering leukemia.
His only career blemishes are a 2004 draw and 2005 split-decision loss.
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