Mayweather to set off Indy 500

The Indianapolis 500 will go green on Floyd Mayweather's command when the Grand Rapids boxer drops the starting flag on the storied race May 25.

Meanwhile, Oscar De La Hoya is running under caution for a rematch, and Miguel Cotto may be black-flagged before he ever shares a ring with Mayweather.

Mayweather has been in negotiations for weeks with Indy 500 officials, and his adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, said Thursday the 31-year-old boxer also has been talking with sponsors about starting a racing team.

"It's something Floyd's really interested in," Ellerbe said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. "It's just another example of reaching a new audience, of raising Floyd Mayweather's profile, building his brand, and having fun at the same time.

"And I guarantee you, every one of those 400,000 people at the race, and the 300 million watching on television worldwide, will know who's dropping the green flag."

If nothing else, Indianapolis should prove less strenuous than Mayweather's other recent outside-the-ring endeavors, which included a stint on "Dancing with the Stars" last fall, and a WrestleMania bout against 441-pound Paul "Big Show" Wight last month.

On the boxing side, Ellerbe said it was incumbent upon De La Hoya to defeat Steve Forbes next week to solidify Mayweather-De La Hoya II, probably Sept. 20.

"I don't think Steve Forbes is anyone you just go in and expect to walk over," Ellerbe said. "Oscar has to take care of his business."

If that happens, Ellerbe said the rematch would occur as scheduled, and "if Oscar wins, Floyd is looking to knock him square out."

As for the unbeaten Cotto, Ellerbe dismissed any possibility of him fighting Mayweather soon, if ever.

Ellerbe criticized Cotto's HBO and pay-per-view ratings, and said the Puerto Rican is not fiscally or historically appealing enough.

"It has nothing to do with Cotto's ability or talent, because I happen to believe he's a very good fighter," Ellerbe said. "I just don't think he brings enough to the table. Right now, he's not a draw in boxing. Outside of the hardcore press, nobody cares. If nobody's watching, what makes the guy important?

"We can't say what's going to happen a year from now, but at this moment, he's not in the stratosphere."

Mayweather is involved in a civil case involving unspecified funds he contends he is owed by his former promoter, Top Rank Inc., which now promotes Cotto.