LAS VEGAS, Nevada, November 4- Floyd Mayweather will return to the ring on May 5, 2012, and his advisor told ESPN that he wants to finally fight Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao in a much-anticipated showdown.
The US-based sports network’s website reported Thursday that Leonard Ellerbe says Mayweather, 42-0 with 26 knockouts, wants the biggest possible fight for his next bout, with none more long-awaited than a slugfest with Pacquiao.
“We’re looking to make the biggest fight possible and everyone knows what that fight is — the little fella,” Ellerbe told ESPN.
“Floyd made it very clear to us what he wanted to do. He told us he is looking to make the biggest fight that is out there and to make it in May.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to make the biggest fight out there for the fans and we all know what the fight is.”
Fight fans also know how painful the last talks were about putting Pacquiao and Mayweather in the ring together.
Talks in 2009 fell apart when Mayweather insisted on extra blood tests beyond those typical for Las Vegas match-ups.
Pacquiao did not want the disruption of random testing so close to the fight and talks fell apart on what could be the top-grossing fight in boxing history.
Mayweather, 34, still faces a slander lawsuit from Pacquiao over comments made while trying to push the blood tests, the Asian superstar claiming that Mayweather called him a dope cheat.
Mayweather says he only questioned why Pacquiao would not take blood tests near fight night.
Mayweather took a 16-month break from boxing between a victory over Shane Mosley in May of last year and a knockout of Victor Ortiz on September 17.
The move comes as Pacquiao prepares to face Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12 at Las Vegas and follows a history of Mayweather liking to talk up his bouts as Pacquiao prepares to fight.
Mayweather notably announced the end of a long lay-off with a fight against Marquez on the same day that Pacquiao beat Ricky Hatton in 2009.
Mayweather still faces two court dates; the first on Friday for poking a security guard in the face in a confrontation over parking tickets last November.
A December 21 evidence hearing is also set on felony and misdemeanor charges against Mayweather over an altercation with former girlfriend Josie Harris and their two children.
Mayweather, whose attorneys have denied any wrongdoing by their client, faces up to 34 years in prison if convicted of striking and threatening Harris, stealing her mobile phone and threatening their children.
