Theaters set to screen Mayweather-Marquez

Boxing will return to movie theaters for the first time in almost three decades — and in high definition — with the Sept. 19 welterweight championship bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez, it was announced Monday.

More than 170 screens will have the fight and its undercard from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Among the circuits participating are AMC, Cinemark, Cobb, Kerasotes, Malco, Marcus, National Amusements and Regal.

Also, 30-second previews for the bout, much like film trailers, will be shown on about 1,500 screens during the next several weeks.

Tickets for the fight are expected to be about $15; the card also will air on HBO PPV.

The Mayweather-Marquez matchup will mark the first boxing event in movie theaters since the famous “No Mas Fight” between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran in November 1980. The first match shown across the U.S. in theaters was Joe Louis vs. Lee Savold in June 1951.

“I can’t wait to get back into the ring to reclaim my rightful place as boxing’s pound-for-pound king while fans in movie theaters across the country experience it all live in high-definition on 40-foot-screens,” said Mayweather, who is coming out of retirement to fight again.

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