Floyd Mayweather Jr and Victor Ortiz Talk About Their Sept. 17 Fight

Floyd Mayweather Jr and Victor Ortiz are officially scheduled to fight on September 17, and the two offered quick quotes in a press release about the matchup.

Mayweather:

"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," said Mayweather.  "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 September 17, Ortiz is just going to be another casualty, the 42nd one who tried and failed.  Trust me, I will be ready."

Ortiz:

"I respect Mayweather because he has been a champion for many years and I know he will be ready, but so will I," said Ortiz.  "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."

The 34-year-old Mayweather and 24-year-old Ortiz both sound confident in taking this risk, and what I must say I like here is Mayweather is not running down Ortiz, just stating his belief that he's a better fighter. But I also have to say I find it funny that Mayweather says he looks for "young, strong, rising stars" considering his last two opponents have been Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez, but maybe he's starting a new chapter with this fight, I don't know. Obviously it's a thinly-veiled shot at Manny Pacquiao, who this year has fought Shane Mosley, and later will fight Juan Manuel Marquez.