Mayweather to face Guerrero in May, inks new TV deal

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) –

Floyd Mayweather Jr. celebrates after defeating Miguel Cotto by unanimous decision during their WBA super welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 5, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather said Tuesday that he will face fellow American Robert Guerrero on May 4 as part of a new deal with telecasters CBS and Showtime.

Unbeaten welterweight fighter Floyd Mayweather said Tuesday that he will face fellow American Robert Guerrero on May 4 as part of a new deal with telecasters CBS and Showtime.

Mayweather, who previously had worked with rival telecaster HBO, called the new deal for up to six fights over 30 months the biggest in boxing history, but said financial details of the contract were confidential.

Should all six fights take place and his pay-per-view averages of more than one million buys per bout hold steady, Mayweather claimed the deal would be the largest for an individual athlete in sports history.

Mayweather, 43-0 with 26 knockouts, has not fought since taking a unanimous 12-round decision from Miguel Cotto last May. Since then, Mayweather has served a 90-day jail sentence for domestic battery.

Southpaw Guerrero, 31-1-1 with 18 knockouts, has won 15 fights in a row since suffering his only loss, a 2005 split-decision defeat at the hands of Mexico’s Gamaliel Diaz.

Boxing fans have long sought a Mayweather fight against Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao, 54-5 with two drawn and 38 knockouts.

But the Asian star lost his last two fights, the most recent when he was stopped in the sixth round by Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez last December.