Mayweather, Marquez To Invite Obama, Calderon To Their Fight

Floyd Mayweather Jr. will come out of retirement to fight Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18 in Las Vegas in a promotion called "Number One" or "Numero Uno."

And each hopes to have his nation's No. 1 fan at the fight.

Mayweather will invite President Barack Obama to the fight, and Marquez, from Mexico, will invite President Felipe Calderon to the mega-fight at the MGM Grand (HBO pay-per-view, 9 p.m. ET).

"It would be amazing to have President Obama ringside for my fight," said the undefeated Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs), who hasn't fought since knocking out Ricky Hatton in December 2007.

"With all of these patriotic holidays coming up, and the fact that I met him when he was campaigning to become President, I wanted to extend an invitation to the fight as my congratulations for his knock-out victory."

Marquez was equally excited about the possibility, however slim it may be, of Calderon showing up in Las Vegas.

"President Calderon is a true statesman for our country and it would be an honor for me to have him come to the fight," said Marquez. "Mayweather is the biggest challenge of my career and having my president there to witness my victory that night would be bigger than the victory itself."

Mayweather didn't stop at the president. He also invited Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate Majority Leader and a longtime supporter of boxing, to the fight. Reid hosted Mayweather in Washington after the fighter defeated Oscar de la Hoya in May 2007.

Mayweather, a 1996 U.S. Olympian, hopes his return will breathe new life into American boxing. With the exception of the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Chad Dawson, Shane Mosley, Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams, most of the sports' champions nowadays seem to be from outside the U.S., even though many currently reside and train in the U.S.

Mayweather has felt a sudden surge of patriotism in retirement. He has wrapped his Las Vegas-based boxing gym with an American flag and will host an early July Fourth barbecue for kids in Las Vegas on July 1 when he opens training camp.

"I embrace my patriotism and feel boxing has lost a bit of its 'American' luster, which I intend to change immediately," says Mayweather. "We have dominated the sport which, like the United States, has always stood for hard work and dedication, and I intend to use my comeback as a way to bring it back around and remind everyone that the best fighters are American and it will always stay that way."

Mayweather says he intends to put his patriotism to the test during the upcoming Flag Day (Sunday), and Fourth of July holidays.

"The American flag is a symbol of everything my family and I stand for," says Mayweather. "I live in the best country in the world, and on Flag Day and the Fourth of July I'm going to show off my American pride."

HBO's award-winning all-access reality series 24/7 returns with Mayweather/Marquez 24/7 on Saturday, June 27 at 9:30 p.m. ET for the first of four episodes.

Source: usatoday.com