#Boxing - #Mayweather is back [vs. Ortiz]

Floyd Mayweather Jr., a former five-division champion and one of the top pound-for-pound stars of the era, will end a 16-month layoff when he challenges welterweight titlist Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17.

"My fans have been waiting long enough. Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz. Sept 17, 2011 for the WBC world championship," Mayweather tweeted Tuesday afternoon to make the announcement.

Kieran Mulvaney welcomes the announcement of Floyd Mayweather's fight with Victor Ortiz and looks ahead to this weekend's Hall of Fame inductions.

Details of the pay-per-view fight, including which network will handle it and the specific site, are being worked out, Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer, Ortiz's promoter, told ESPN.com.

But Mayweather said he will be ready.

"I am ready to return to the ring and give my fans a fantastic night of boxing by fighting the best out there and for me, that is Victor Ortiz," Mayweather said. "He is the current champion and an extremely talented fighter who showed amazing skills, and heart, in his last performance against Andre Berto.

"At this stage of my career, these are the challenges I look for, a young, strong, rising star looking to make his mark in boxing by beating me. Like the rest of my opponents, he is going to try to prove that he can beat me. I commend him for accepting the fight, but on Sept. 17, Ortiz is just going to be another casualty, the 42nd one who tried and failed. Trust me, I will be ready."

Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KOs), 24, was the 2008 ESPN.com prospect of the year and one of boxing's rising stars. The southpaw from Garden City, Kan., now based in Oxnard, Calif., moved up from junior welterweight and outpointed Berto to win a welterweight title on April 16. It was a thrilling fight -- a leading fight of the year candidate -- in which Ortiz and Berto both were knocked down twice. Mayweather sat ringside for the fight.

"I respect Mayweather because he has been a champion for many years and I know he will be ready, but so will I," Ortiz said. "I'm a strong fighter and I have worked really hard to silence my critics. I'm a world champion for a reason and I am not going to let go of my title any time soon. This is going to be a great fight, but I will remain a world champion for many years to come."

As soon as the fight with Berto was over, Ortiz talked about wanting a big fight against one of boxing's biggest stars, Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao.

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