Mayweather-Marquez

With 18 days left until his return to the ring, Floyd Mayweather is taking a blitzkrieg approach to marketing his title bout with Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez. On Tuesday, Mayweather appeared on AM 570 KLAC in Los Angeles in the middle of a press conference call, during which he made sure to plug the premiere of the second episode of the HBO miniseries “Mayweather/Marquez 24/7” on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 10pm ET/PT only on HBO.

He is already the top Pay-Per-View boxer around, and come Sept. 19, fans will be able to watch “Money” Mayweather return from his 22-month retirement in any one of 170 movie theaters around the country. He says he feels better than before the extended layoff and that his only concern right now is taking down Marquez. But make no mistake, Floyd Mayweather is also here to live up to his nickname and solidify himself as an entertainment superstar.

Almost two years ago, after Mayweather put down Ricky Hatton in a 10th round TKO, many boxing analysts and fans hoped the champ would set his sights on Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino fighter who beat Marquez, David Diaz and Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 and knocked out Hatton in the second round earlier this year. But it was not to be – yet, at least – and Mayweather knows that in order to garner the kinds of astronomical Pay-Per-View numbers he did for his previous two fights, he must ensure the public that his challenger is worthwhile.

“Marquez is a Mexican bulldog," Mayweather said. "I know I need to have a good game plan to win. These other fighters (from other countries) have nothing to lose when they step in the ring with me 'cause when they lose, they’re gonna say they lost to the best when they get back to their country. ... After you go so far in your career, people want to see you fail, they want to see your downfall. But I’m strong-minded, I have a good team, and I’m a champ.”

As for the brief retirement — or extended layoff, whichever you prefer — Mayweather is supremely confident in his ability to regain his title form. “I feel fast, strong and my timing is there,” he said. “I grew a lot mentally as a person during the break and a feel good right now.”

And his trainer, Roger Mayweather, scoffed at the notion that an extended layoff from matches was a bad thing: “I know about fighters and I know about layoffs. If a fighter’s got skill, he’s gonna win. And all the great fighters took layoffs – Ali took three years off.”

In two and a half weeks, those words will be put to the test. And whether there is much veracity behind them seems less consequential than their desired effect on the general public: to bring in more viewers than any Pay-Per-View fight ever.