Currently: 97° | Complete forecast | Log in

Floyd Mayweather Jr. misses weight

Mayweather Jr. will pay ‘significant’ fine for coming in two pounds heavy

Image

Steve Marcus

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez pose for fans and media members during Friday’s official weigh-in. Mayweather Jr. came in two pounds over the 144-pound weight limit and will face a ‘significant’ financial penalty.

Friday, Sept. 18, 2009 | 3:47 p.m.

Mayweather v. Marquez weigh-in

Juan Manuel Marquez gestures towards fans during Friday's official weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Launch slideshow »

Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s $10 million purse just got smaller for his return to boxing Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Mayweather Jr. came in two pounds over the agreed-upon 144 pounds for his welterweight bout with Juan Manuel Marquez and will face a fee of $300,000 for each extra pound.

Marquez, who weighed in at 142 pounds, will receive extra money because of the penalty. He was originally being paid $2 million for the fight.

“The fight was contracted as a welterweight fight, however, the agreed-upon weight was 144 pounds,” said Richard Schaefer, chief executive officer of Golden Boy Promotions. “There are contractual weight penalties built in, in case either fighter came in heavy. Mayweather will face the weight penalty for those additional two pounds — a substantial amount of money.”

If Mayweather Jr. was disappointed with himself for missing the cut, he did not show it on stage Friday. It appeared some immediately thought he hadn't cut enough, especially Marquez, who leaned in closer to see the scale while Mayweather Jr. was on it.

While the extra two pounds will cost Mayweather Jr. a share of his purse, they may help him keep his undefeated record intact. Boxing experts already were worried about how Marquez would handle a bigger fighter.

That concern will only grow with that additional weight.

The entire weigh-in was quite a spectacle from start to finish.

Mexican radio personality Eddie Sotelo claimed that Kanye West was on the phone with him predicting a win for Marquez to get the crowd of thousands going.

American comedian D.L. Hughley responded by taking a jab at Marquez’s training methods.

“I’m going to get Marquez some Gatorade so he don’t have to drink pee no more,” Hughley said, referring to a scene showing Marquez consuming his own urine in the HBO documentary series "24/7."

“Marquez is a warrior,” Sotelo answered.

“You can be a warrior with Vitamin Water,” Hughley shot back.

To bring the mood back to serious, WWE star Triple H, who will accompany Mayweather Jr. to the ring Saturday night, got his hands on the microphone.

“I just have one question: Are you ready?” he asked a crowd that actually looked somewhat confused by his appearance. “I hear a comedian coming out here laughing a lot, but they say that he who laughs last, laughs best. I think the only one laughing Saturday night will be Floyd Mayweather Jr.”

Historical boxing figures were also on hand for the show, including Thomas Hearns, Victor Ortiz, Sakio Bica and, of course, Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins.

As expected, Mayweather Jr. and Marquez were visibly different during the actual weigh-in process.

Marquez’s half of the stage was occupied by maybe two or three of his entourage. Mayweather Jr., on the other hand, was accompanied by an impressive following of more than 20.

Weigh-in results:

Orlando Cruz (126 pounds) v. Cornelius Lock (125 pounds)

Michael Katsidis (135 pounds) v. Vicente Escobedo (134 pounds)

Chris John (126 pounds) v. Rocky Juarez (126 pounds)

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (146 pounds) v. Juan Manuel Marquez (142 pounds)

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com.

Discussion: comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.

Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.

No trusted comments have been posted.

Post a comment

Commenting requires registration.

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

If you would like to submit your comment as a letter to the editor, you may submit it here.

UFC 141
Jon Jones defends belt for third time, downs rival Rashad Evans

UFC 145 Jon Jones had already gotten past three former light heavyweight champions in the last 13 months — Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida. Now, Rashad Evans can be added to the list. Jones put Evans away in Atlanta with a unanimous decision victory, taking a combined 13 rounds out of a possible 15 combined on the three judges' scorecards. Jones rebuffed all of Evans' takedown attempts to keep the fight against his former training partner standing. Jones' striking was at another level, as he flawlessly mixed elbows, jabs and leg kicks to keep Evans guessing for the duration of the fight.

Main Card Results -
WinnerLoserMethod
Jon JonesRashad EvansUnanimous Decision
Rory MacDonaldChe MillsTKO
Ben RothwellBrendan SchaubKnockout
Michael McDonaldMiguel TorresKnockout
Eddie YaginMark HominickSplit Decision
Mark BocekJohn AlessioUnanimous Decision

Fight Schedule
DateEventHeadlining MatchLocation
June 1 "The Ultimate Fighter Live" finale Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann Las Vegas: The Pearl at the Palms
June 8 Boxing: ESPN2 Friday Night Fights Kelly Pavlik vs. Scott Sigmon Las Vegas: The Joint at Hard Rock
June 8 UFC on FX 3 Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall II Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
June 9 Boxing: Pacquiao vs. Bradley Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley Las Vegas: MGM Grand Garden Arena
June 22 UFC on FX 4 Gray Maynard vs. Clay Guida Atlantic City, N.J.
June 23 UFC 147 Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin II Belo Horizonte, Brazil

The Sun

Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.