Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz News: Latest Updates on Tonight's Title Fight

Floyd Mayweather Jr. makes his return to the ring tonight against WBC Welterweight champion Victor Ortiz. The fight will be for Ortiz's title.

It will also be Mayweather's first match since May of 2010.

Mayweather has a perfect 41-0 record as a fighter with 25 knockouts. Still, five of his last six fights have gone to a decision.

Ortiz is 29-2-2 with 22 knockouts. His last fight came in April, when he beat Andre Berto by unanimous decision to win the WBC Welterweight title.

This fight will also heat up the talks about a Manny Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight at some point down the line. Like Pacquiao, Ortiz is a southpaw.

The fight is scheduled to take place at 9 p.m. EST and will take place at Las Vegas' MGM Grand.

Both Men Are Calling for Short Fight

Both Mayweather and Ortiz have said that this fight will end early.

The oddsmakers don't quite agree, as Bodog has set the over/under for the fight at 11.5 rounds.

Mayweather's last knockout win came in December of 2007, when he knocked Ricky Hatton out in the 10th round.

The last early knockout that Mayweather recorded came in November of 2005, when he knocked Sharmba Mitchell out in the sixth round.

While Ortiz has consistently knocked opponents down, he hasn't knocked an opponent out since beating Vivian Harris last September. His two fights since then have both gone to decision, with one ending in a draw and the other in a win.

Mayweather has also been known as a strong defensive fighter throughout his career. While a knockout theoretically takes just one punch, this doesn't seem likely.

Mayweather Is Heavily Favored

While the expectations would seem to be for a long fight, Mayweather is the heavy favorite against Ortiz.

Even Ortiz has said that part of the reason he feels that he'll win is that he has nothing to lose.

Actually, he does. Despite being heavily favored, Mayweather is the challenger in this fight. Ortiz hasn't had any successful defenses, but he won the title against Andre Berto.

Ortiz is certainly capable of knocking his opponent out, but Mayweather hasn't lost a professional fight. In reality, there is no real reason to pick against him winning this fight by decision.

Ortiz Needs a Knockout

Given Mayweather's history of jumping out to a big lead early and fighting defensive late, it's hard to imagine that a decision would benefit Ortiz.

To win this fight, Ortiz needs to jump out strong and catch Mayweather with a flurry of punches. Then, one of two things could happen.

One is that he catches Mayweather with a knockout punch early.

Two is that he gets Mayweather off of his game, which would give Ortiz a greater chance at a late-round knockout.

It Mayweather can stick to his fight plan, his perfect record suggests that he'll win this one.

Manny Pacquio Looms Large

The fight that boxing fans across the world want to see is Floyd Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao.

So, whenever Mayweather fights, Pacquio's name will come up and come up a lot. The same is true when Pacquiao fights.

The fact that Ortiz is right handed but fights as a southpaw (like Pacquiao) will only increase the comparison hype for a fight that may never happen.

It may not be entirely fair to Ortiz, but the reality is that Manny Pacquiao casts a big shadow over this fight, even if he's not trying to.

Andre Berto Predicts a Mayweather Win

There are some who feel that Ortiz will emerge victorious. Andre Berto is not one of them.

Despite an upset loss to Ortiz in April, Berto said that he feels that Mayweather will outbox Ortiz and beat him.

On the surface, it's not especially noteworthy. Mayweather is a heavy favorite, so this isn't on par with Joe Namath guaranteeing a Jets' win over the Colts in Super Bowl III.

Still, considering Otiz beat Berto in a great fight in April, you would think that Berto might be inclined to pick the man who beat him.

Ortiz is not phased by the fact that he's the underdog. He took on a similar role against Berto and came out victorious.