Didn't I Predict This?

First of all, this is not a Floyd Mayweather blog.

Yes, it seems like I only post these days around big fights that involve him somehow and no, that's not a coincidence. Few sports intrigue me the way boxing does and Money May is still the most intriguing athlete in the game, so it makes perfect sense that his first fight in 21 months shocked me out of my blog malaise.

Once again, now that I'm here I promise to do better.

Now lets talk boxing.

DIDN'T I TELL YOU...

That this was going to be a high level tuneup for Mayweather?

Well, I didn't tell all of you, but if you're one of the select group who discusses big fights with me via email then you know what I thought of Marquez:

A fine fighter and nonpareil drinker of piss, a relentless Mexican Warrior with a solid chin and highly refined skills, but no match for a bigger, stronger, faster, smarter fighter in Floyd Mayweather. And if you follow boxing closely and don't let Mayweather's antics taint your opinion of his skills, then you could see this fight for what it was -- a chance for Mayweather to earn a big paycheck and test himself against a high quality fighter without taking much of a risk.

I mean, did we really think a fighter who had never been north of 135 could do damage against the former (and future?) pound for pound king?

Now I know why you drank all that piss in training. Cuz you knew I was gon beat it out of you! You a smart dude, JMM.

Of course not.

This fight unfolded the way I thought it would, with Mayweather boxing early, stalking in the middle rounds, potshotting late, pitching a shutout and setting up....

A SHOWDOWN WITH MANNY PACQUAIO?

Yeah, I think two things that happened this week will combine to push this fight back indefinitely.

First, Mayweather weighed in at 146 for a bout that had a contracted weight of 144. Second, he looked damn good, dismantling a fighter who has pushed Pacquiao to the limit -- twice.

This isn't to imply that Pac Man is scared of Mayweather. He's just not stupid, and after 12 months of very careful matchmaking jumping straight into a welterweight bout with Mayweather is just plain dumb.

If Mayweather had looked average I could have seen Pacquiao's handlers trying to make this match as soon as he's through with Miguel Cotto (a fight that's far from guaranteed), because that's been their M.O. ever since Pacman moved up from lightweight. Fight Oscar, but only if he agrees to dry himself out to 147. Fight Ricky Hatton, but only after Mayweather and that deadly left hook turned him out. Fight Cotto, but only after he looked slow in slogging out a decision over Josh Clottey, and do it at a catch weight (145) that you know he'll have trouble making.

My guess is that after (or if) Pacquiao gets past Cotto, he pushes the price WAY up on Mayweather and hits him with a laundry list of conditions before agreeing to the bout. Look for him to demand this bout take place at 144, knowing Mayweather won't want to make that weight. And don't look for him to budge from that either because, again, after Saturday's performance I'm not sure how badly Pacquiao's people want this fight.

BUT WHAT ABOUT SUGAR SHANE?

What about him?

Who wants some of this? Manny? Floyd? Don't make me beg, now!

A great fighter who looked too good for his own good in blasting Antonio Margarito last January. Besides Paul "The Punisher" Williams, he's the one fighter in the welterweight mix that I think has a legit shot to beat floyd -- the stick, the strength, the speed.

But that's his problem.

Neither Floyd nor Pac is going to tangle with him for less than (I'm guessing) $15 million, but the last time we saw a $15 million fighter Pacquiao was beating the brain cells out of him. I think both Mayweather and Pacman would love to have a win over Shane on their resumes, but not at these prices. And neither one is going to put him on before next fall if the two of them can meet in a megabucks fight next spring.

Sorry, Shane. That's just sense.

BUT NONE OF THAT MATTERS BECAUSE BOXING'S A DEAD, RIGHT?

Wrong.

The pay per view numbers won't come out for few days, so we'll have to wait before finding out who won the battle between Money Mayweather and UFC 103 but if my own highly unscientific observations mean anything, the sweet science is a long way from last rites.

Watched the bout at Wing House, a breastaurant and sports bar on the North Side of St. Petersburg, where I'm covering the Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays.

This place TVs tuned to both boxing and UFC, and a standing room only crowd as diverse in race (Black folks, White folks and a sprinkling of Mexicans) as it was in age (I saw no fewer than three people in there holding damn-near newborn babies).

Now if the rumblings about boxing's demise were true we would have seen it in this bar tonight. If the UFC has overtaken boxing in terms of mainstream appeal then this group of sports fans, prestented with both options, should have chosen to watch the fight that looks like gay porn with a referee.

Tito Ortiz finishes an unidentified opponent with the Deep Throat choke. "Tito, it's just too big," he said.

Instead, they chose to watch the fight that looked like, well, a fight.

Mayweather and Marquez engage in non homoerotic violence. Prefer MMA to this? Says a lot about you.

It's not that they ingnored the live broadcast of Rich Franklin getting his chin dented yet again. It's just that they paid much more attention to Money May's boxing clinic. And when the bell sounded to end the 12th round the crowd thinned quickly, even with a pair of mixed martial artists still rolling around the octagon like lovers.

Go figure.

Then figure it out.

Boxing ain't dead.