According to Norm Clark of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (HT: Fanhouse), Floyd Mayweather, Jr. pulled out of a gala and fundraiser in Ohio this week, and it will be clear why after an “announcement” that he will make this week.

Clarke is the eye and ears of the Las Vegas nightlife scene, documenting who’s where in the City of Sin on a nightly basis. If you’re famous and in Las Vegas, Norm knows what you’re up to.

Rumors of Mayweather’s return to the ring have been going full speed since the day he announced his retirement. Since Floyd left boxing, Manny Pacquiao has turned into a legitimate potential opponent, as has Juan Manuel Marquez possibly. There is also an option of a rematch with Ricky Hatton, should Hatton beat Pacquiao in May, and of course, Shane Mosley, if Mayweather really wants to claim boxing supremacy.

Finding an opponent is the easy part. Getting Floyd to fight said oppenent would be the hard part. More than likely, any return to the ring by Mayweather would be to find the perfect marriage between big-money and low-risk. That puts Pacquiao, Hatton and Marquez far ahead of real welterweights like Mosley or Miguel Cotto.

TheSweetScience.com reported this week that Mayweather was spotted sparring in his Las Vegas gym, another sign of Mayweather’s impending return.

There has been no official word from Mayweather’s camp about a possible return, but following Pacquiao’s destruction of Oscar De La Hoya in December, it was said that Mayweather instructed his team to size up potential fights.

Promoters said as recently as late February that Mayweather was asking for $20 million to get back in the ring, an unrealistic expectation in today’s economy.

Most insiders believe that it is only a matter of time before Mayweather returns to boxing, so the only real question will be against whom?

Pacquiao is the logical opponent, should he beat Ricky Hatton. If Pacquiao doesn’t beat Hatton, then a rematch with Hatton is possible, but there wouldn’t be any huge money fights. Fights with Marquez or Mosley would be huge in the boxing world, but likely do mediocre business in the mainstream. A rematch with Hatton will make money thanks to the British fans, but would likely not be a big seller in the U.S., and a fight with Cotto could be big, but would be very tough to make, based on what we know of the fighters (New York vs. Las Vegas, glove size, promoters, money, etc.)

If there is in fact an announcement this week about boxing from Mayweather, I expect it to be no more than announcing his future return to the ring against an opponent to be named after that Hatton-Pacquiao fight. Exciting for the fans who want to see Floyd return, but nothing in the actual announcement to get excited about.

It’s all speculation for now, but there may be more to this as it develops.