By Scott Shaffer

At the post-fight press conference on Saturday, Main Events announced that Arturo Gatti’s next bout would be held on June 11, 2005, once again at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, where Gatti has sold out the arena in his last five outings, including Saturday's fifth-round knockout of Jesse James Leija.  Until Friday, the plan was for Main Events to announce the pay-per-view event that boxing fans have been waiting for a long time, Gatti against pound-for-pound candidate Floyd Mayweather.  But with criminal charges involving possible jail time hanging over Mayweather and a trial scheduled for the next two months, arrangements for the bout had not been finalized.  Although some in the boxing industry have been privately suggesting that Main Events was using Mayweather’s legal woes as an excuse to keep their star attraction out of a fight in which he would be the underdog, Main Events was prepared to make the fight official on Saturday. The promotional company had arranged with HBO and Bob Arum to bring Mayweather ringside for Gatti-Leija and to announce the fight to HBO viewers at the end of the telecast.  This arrangement would seem to indicate that all parties have signed onto the financial aspects of the fight, or at least verbally agreed to terms.  Main Events agreed to the on-air announcement after its attorney, Patrick English was informed that Mayweather had struck a deal with Michigan prosecutors that would allow him to plead guilty but avoid incarceration.  English was told that Mayweather would go to court in Michigan on Thursday or Friday, enter his plea with the judge, and then head over to Atlantic City.  On Friday, however, English received a call saying Mayweather would not be entering a plea just yet.  Main Events and HBO agreed that with the lingering uncertainty about Mayweather’s freedom, it would be best to hold off on the announcement. Mayweather was not in attendance at Saturday's bout. HBO boxing executive Kery Davis confirmed the story, but didn’t seem quite as upset as Main Events’ executives, telling Boxingtalk he was still optimistic that Gatti-Mayweather would come off on June 11.