Fall date likely for Mayweather-Marquez

By Andy Samuelson

Monday, June 15, 2009 | 3:30 p.m.

The exact length of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s postponement for his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez will not be known until doctors evaluate the extent of damaged cartilage to the Las Vegas resident’s ribs.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told The Associated Press on Monday that Mayweather did not have any broken ribs, but was in tremendous pain since suffering the injury last week in training camp.

“He tried to work through it. He really did not want to postpone the fight, but it came to the point where he could barely sit,” said Schaefer, who said both Mayweather Jr. and Marquez have agreed to postpone the original July 18 date and a September date has been mentioned for the former five-time champion — who hasn’t boxed since knocking out Ricky Hatton in December 2007.

“Right now he cannot go and train, he cannot work out, he cannot run, he cannot hit the heavy bag and the speed bags and jump ropes and all these kinds of things,” Schaefer continued. “He definitely will need some additional training but again, Floyd is such an amazing athlete — and really on top of his game — that I think it will be relatively easy for him to get right back into it.”

HBO senior VP Mark Taffet told SI.com that the network's fight schedule is open for a fall date, a likely time period for the rematch, and will hold production on the Emmy Award-winning reality series “24/7” until Mayweather is fit enough to resume training.

The delay most likely means that Manny Pacquiao, who was in New York for the Miguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey fight Saturday night, won’t wait around before declaring his next opponent — probably either Cotto or Shane Mosley.

Two Vegas boxers claim gold: Bantamweight Jesus Magdaleno and super heavyweight Michael Hunter Jr., son of former pro boxer Michael "The Bounty" Hunter, won their respective divisions at the USA Nationals in Denver Saturday night.

"I did want to win this tournament. I trained really hard for it and this is something I wanted to conquer,” said Magdaleno, who stunned favorite Rau'shee Warren in the semifinals before beating Luis Rosa 17-4 in the finals.

Hunter Jr., who repeated his title from 2007, initially was disqualified from his quarterfinal win over Lenroy Thompson for using too much gauze on his hand. But Hunter appealed and arbitrators ruled in his favor.

Given the second chance, Hunter won easily in the semifinals and beat Javier Torres 31-12 in an energetic final match.

"I'm glad I got my shot and nothing phony happened again," he said.

'Bones' Adams back: Former world champion Clarence “Bones” Adams stopped Alex Baba in the eighth round of their super featherweight fight Friday night at the Palms Casino Resort.

The 34-year-old Adams — the WBA super-bantamweight champion in 2000 and 2001, who was fighting for the first time in a year and only the fourth time since 2003 — opened a cut over Baba’s right eye in the fifth. The one-side bout was stopped at 1:02 into the eighth round with Adams, who improved to 44-6-4, leading 70-63 on all three judges’ scorecards.

Around the ring and beyond: Former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis was one of 14 individuals inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame Sunday in Canastota, N.Y. The 43-year-old Lewis, who retired in 2003 with a 41-2-1 record with 32 KOs, entered the hall in his first year of eligibility. ... Sugar Ray Leonard is excited about his own likeness and that of other legends in EA Sports' new "Fight Night Round 4," which is due out on June 25. ... The rules might have been changed to a mixed martial arts format, but 48-year-old former heavyweight boxer Ray Mercer still finished Tim Sylvia with his fists — in 12 seconds to be exact — at the Adrenaline 3 card in Alabama this weekend.

Andy Samuelson can be reached at andy.samuelson@lasvegassun.com or 702-948-7837.