Floyd Mayweather Jr. must be realizing that the number of fights left for him that people actually want to see at this point in his career are few and far between. Today the soon-to-be-incarcerated WBC, WBA, IBF and The Ring welterweight champion has agreed in principle to face Manny Pacquiao May 5 in Las Vegas.

“Money” took to his Twitter and Facebook accounts this afternoon to call out the WBO and WBC welterweight champ. Pacman’s camp has yet to respond to the challenge, but his promoter Bob Arum is said to be in the Philippines negotiating Manny’s next fight.

Juan Manuel Márquez punches the face of boxing, figuratively and literally. Props: Fox News Latino

With all of the hype surrounding last night’s UFC on Fox, a quick finish in Velasquez vs. Dos Santos was far from ideal. As we’ve mentioned, it left fans, many of whom first time viewers, with an anticlimactic feeling. Immediately following the UFC’s debut on Fox was the main event of that other combat sport’s event from last night: A welterweight title fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao.

Even though Manny Pacquiao is arguably the best boxer alive, many people felt that the 10-1 underdog Juan Manuel Marquez won their first two meetings. An exciting fight between Marquez and Pacquiao could have given boxing some much needed publicity after Dos Santos quickly knocked out Velasquez, and possibly have kept casual fans from jumping over to mixed martial arts. Frankly, the only truly damning result for the sport would be for the fight to end in a controversial decision that gets the crowd thinking that the fight was fixed.

If you’ve followed boxing at all over the past few decades, you already know where this is going.

(Video courtesy of RadioPlanet.tv/KRSP/Shade 45)

Anyone who ever complains about the growing number of MMA fanboys with URL’s and podcasts claiming to be journalists needs to listen to the clip above of two dudes, who are obvious fans of Floyd Mayweather, feeding the boxing champ softball questions. In fact, some of the questions aren’t actually questions at all, but at least we sort of get to hear what Floyd has to say about a few things.

One of the interviewers is a DJ by the name of “DJ Whoo Kid” and the other seems to be DJ WK’s hype man and FMJ’s biggest fan, given his numerous nuthugging statements like “Ortiz got exactly what he deserved after that headbutt.” He obviously wasn’t listening during the first half of the interview as he continually asks the exact same questions as Whoo Kid.

As a public service for those readers who can’t (or won’t) sit through the interview, check out the key points after the jump.

(UFC on FOX video promo via ZombieProphet)

Some fresh details coming in about the UFC’s latest game-changing deal and their November 12th debut on FOX. As first reported by the Las Vegas Sun, the broadcast will be a one-hour live special, kicking off at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET., and will feature just two fights along with a full preliminary card. The event is expected to take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Because of the time-slot, booking the event on the same night as Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez 3 won’t be an issue for home viewers. “We’ll be out of there before Pacquiao even walks to the ring,” Lorenzo Fertitta said. “This is going to be a perfect night for any fight fan. Get together with your friends, watch two big fights in the UFC and then change the channel to ride into the Pacquiao pay-per-view.”

As for the UFC on Fox fight card itself, only one prelim match has been announced so far…

(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHype.)

Jeff Mayweather, the uncle of IBO, WBC, IBA, IBF and IBO Welterweight World champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. says that he’s confident that his nephew will finally face longtime nemesis and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao some time in 2013.

“I think [Floyd] will be fighting another couple of years,” he told Fighthype.com. “I think that’s being realistic because I think the [best] fight that’s out there will take that long to materialize.”

If you’re a Mike Tyson fan like I am, one of the toughest things to witness was the once thought unstoppable heavyweight’s fall from grace and prominence in the world of boxing.

Whether or not you think he’s guilty of the charges that saw him spend some of the best years of his life in prison is irrelevant to his place in Boxing Hall of Fame and the trials and tribulations the beleagured former champion has gone through in his life, from falling victim to the trappings of success to hangers on like Robin Givens to losing a child.

The interviews above and below are must-watch material for any current and former fans or for those who want to know what happened to Tyson, beyond what he touched on in his acclaimed self-titled documentary.

I have an autographed pic of “Iron Mike” in his heyday on the wall of my office that I’m looking at as I write this that depicts the champ like I remember him and before all of his troubles outside the ring caught up to him. That’s how I want to remember him, because I’m a fan of his performances in the ring back then.

Check out the other parts of the interview after the jump.

(…so Tiny choked his ass…I know. Can you believe he had the nerve to ask ME for ID?)

On the heels of his latest criminal charges — a pair of misdemeanor harassment counts filed against him last week in Las Vegas, NV,  Floyd Mayweather Jr. is at the center of new lawsuit.

The suit, filed by a Las Vegas strip club bouncer, alleges that one of the boxing champ’s bodyguards choked the complainant outside of his place of work, Drai’s at Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon after he asked Mayweather and his entourage for identification before they were allowed entry into the club. According to court documents obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the plaintiff, Clay Gerling is seeking $10,000 in damages.

If you missed Manny Pacquiao‘s latest performance on Saturday night, well, you didn’t miss much. The boxing megastar defended his WBO welterweight title by unanimous decision against “Sugar” Shane Mosley, in a bout that was marked by a disappointing lack of action. It’s not suprising that this CBS Sports highlight reel starts at the end of the 10th round. The only notable moments before that were a knockdown that Pacquiao scored in the 3rd frame — which seemed to convince Mosley to quit engaging altogether — and a trip/shove by Mosley earlier in the tenth that the referee decided to rule a knockdown, just to keep things interesting. Nevertheless, two of the judges ignored the ref’s bad call and gave every round to Pacquiao.

As we told y’all on Friday, the Pacquaio/Mosley match was Gus Johnson’s final play-by-play gig for Showtime, and he made sure to trot out his diverse range of knowledge. At the 0:52 mark: “He kinda throws, in the MMA world, it’s a version of the ‘Superman’ punch.” GuJo‘s just keeping the chops sharp until the UFC comes calling, I guess.

After every mechanical victory by Pacquiao over an outmatched opponent, our thoughts always turn to Floyd Mayweather Jr., and what he might be up to right now. Well, get a load of this…

(“What can I say? Beef jerky and flattops don’t pay for themselves.”)

As the rest of us scramble to get our taxes done in the hopes of getting back a nominal return, the world’s highest paid athletes laugh at us from their million-dollar penthouse apartments as they light thousand-dollar cigars with hundred dollar bills as their accountants write checks to Uncle Sam on their behalf to cover what they owe for the year.

Sadly, what the top ball throwers, dribblers, catchers, hitters and kickers pay out in yearly taxes equals more than many of us will make in a single year as long as we live. According to ESPN The Magazine, former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is a member of that elite club as well.

(Bob, could you use this staircase to show us where boxing is today compared to, say, thirty years ago? PicProps: Pacquiao-Margarito.com)

The last time we heard from boxing promoter and cantankerous old white dude Bob Arum he essentially dismissed MMA types as “a bunch of skinheads who like to roll around like homosexuals.” In other words, Dale Carnegie this guy is not. Good news is, Arum managed to keep the homophobia under wraps this week when he and prized possession Manny Pacquiao sat down with USA Today writers Sergio Non and Scott Zucker. Unfortunately, when the topic of MMA came up, Arum continued to weirdly define his objections to our sport on the basis of race. It’s almost as if he’s trying to distract us from something else … something like realizing his words are just the impotent flailing of an old man who realizes his place in the world grows smaller each day …

“I don’t want to demean UFC, because they’ve done a marvelous job of marketing,” Arum said, in response to a question from Non about the record-breaking ticket sales in Toronto for UFC 129. “But it’s the same audience over and over. It’s white males, and they have never been able to expand their demographic … Hey, this country is becoming more and more Hispanic, and it’s growing (more) African-American (in the) audience. So the future success of UFC is limited. The success of boxing is not, because boxing reaches those groups. The only demographic that boxing has lost is the white, young males, period.”

("I’mma poke you in yo stupid face if you axe me another stupid question.")

You would think that if you were awaiting trial for assaulting your ex-wife you might try your best to…I don’t know…NOT GET ARRESTED FOR ASSAULT?!

It seems that Floyd Mayweather Jr. thinks that money and fame excuses him from playing by society’s rules.

The Associated Press is reporting that the WBA welterweight boxing champ was allegedly involved in another incident this morning in Las Vegas in which he laid his hands, more specifically his fingers on a security guard in his gated community after the official began writing him parking tickets for a number of vehicles that were unlawfully parked on the street outside "Pretty Boy Floyd’s" home.

Police say that Mayweather became enraged when the the security officer refused to tear up the tickets and began repeatedly and aggressively poking the guard in his face.

(Just pick the one that goes best with your shoes, Manny. PicProps: The Global Herald)

It was only a matter of time before someone published this story, right? In the wake of James Toney’s halfhearted loss to Randy Couture last weekend at UFC 118, BoxingScene.com reports that pound-for-pound boxing king Manny Pacquiao says he’d be interested in bringing his skills to the cage, too. Obviously there’s no chance this ever happens – and we assume the next few months will be full of breathless “(Insert Famous Boxer’s Name Here) Also Interested in MMA!” stories – but it is at least interesting to note that even the best pugilist on the planet is willing to give lip service to fighting in our sport.

It’s also worthwhile to follow the link just to read the few comments on Boxing Scene’s original story. We don’t want to spoil it for you, but let’s just say there is across-the-board agreement from guys with names like “Neck Snapper” that “Pac” would destroy these “UFC fags.” There also seems to be some confusion about the proper use of “there, their and they’re.” Just saying.

(Props: Fightlinker)

If you skipped Pacquiao vs. Clottey because you don’t have the patience to watch a lopsided 12-round boxing match — you and us both, brother — this is really the only thing you missed: Jim Lampley having a stroke in the eighth round and shouting like Emeril Lagasse on a crack binge. Who needs CompuBox when we have this loud jackass?

After the jump: Frank Mir describes the motorcycle wreck that nearly ended his career/life, and Georges St. Pierre gets fruity.

(Left: WEC 47′s ugliest bloodbath. Right: WEC 47′s second-ugliest bloodbath.)

To the general public, March 6th seemed like any other Saturday. But for those of us who watched WEC 47, it was Opposite Day. Miguel Torres fought without his usual aggression and paid the ultimate price. Brian Bowles got absolutely clowned by Dominick Cruz and became the first fighter to be stopped by Cruz in the WEC. Stoppages outscored decisions, 8-3. The Fight of the Night went to a split freakin’ draw.

As you can imagine, few of us did well in our MMA FightPicker pools. Even our great leader Aaron Rampey didn’t win first place in any of his, though he did manage to tack on 112 chips to his grand total, and still sits comfortably in first place. This seems like a good time to mention that I, BG, tied with Rampey in our Contender Pool, while BF failed about as hard as we all figured he would. Surf_Finland won our pool (congrats!), which helped him move to the #2 spot in FightPicker’s current Top 5:

Aaron Rampey: 1,758
surf_finland: 829
Me: 800
Peetee: 800
ToothGuy: 796

Now that that’s behind us, what do we have to look forward to this week?

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

– Frank Shamrock plans to return to competition in March. (MMA Fighting)

– Alistair Overeem makes too much money in K-1 to fight in Strikeforce. (MMA Weekly)

– Shane Carwin’s manager in hot water over "pump and dump" stock fraud charge. (SI.com)

– Brazilian trainer Marco Jara murdered after carjacking. (Sherdog)

– Will Kyra Gracie give MMA a try? (Fightlinker)

– Josh Barnett: The Biggest Loser of 2009. (Bloody Elbow)

– UFC 107 PPV buys: Not too shabby. (MMA Payout)

– Manny Pacquiao threatens lawsuit against Mayweather’s camp due to steroid accusations. (ESPN)

– Top 10 most controversial decisions in MMA. (Bleacher Report)

– The 10 biggest sports betrayals of the decade. (Scores Report)

– "Golden ratio" for feminine facial beauty discovered. (Asylum)

– Everything you need to become a better man in 2010. (Ask Men)

– 25 awesome winter fails. (Holy Taco)

– Jaden Smith gets his ass kicked in Karate Kid remake trailer. (Screen Junkies)

– Best NASCAR Cup races of the decade. (All Left Turns)

– Eight women who are completely off-limits. (Made Man)

– Redneck Christmas barn party fight. (Nothing Toxic)

– Pope attacked by crazy woman during Vatican mass. (Break)

(Props: MMA Hits. Fight starts at the 9:06 mark.)

By now, you probably know that Manny Pacquiao dominated Miguel Cotto on Saturday night en route to a 12th-round TKO victory, becoming the first boxer to win world titles in seven different weight classes, and solidifying his position as best pound-for-pound pugilist on the planet. Cotto was as game as advertised, and kept the contest competitive early on. But the knockdowns that Pacquiao scored in the third round (right hook) and fourth round (left uppercut) turned the tide of the fight for good, and Cotto spent most of the remainder of the match playing defense.

Cotto’s camp nearly threw in the towel after a demoralizing 11th frame, but the fight was allowed to continue to the last round, in which referee Kenny Bayless seized on the first opportunity to stop the fight; the official time was 0:55 of round 12. Immediately after the fight, the MGM Grand Garden Arena began to chant "We want Floyd!" Ah, but does Money Mayweather want Manny? The video is above; watch and be inspired.

(24/7 Pacquiao-Cotto, Episode 1. Props to HBO.)

Being obsessed with MMA doesn’t mean we can’t mark out for Manny Pacquiao once in a while. It’s hard not to love the guy. He’s a brilliant fighter who’s somehow managed to stay humble, he has a lovely singing voice, and he’s never publicly referred to our favorite sport as panty-wrestling porno for beer-drinkers. It’s almost too bad that we’ll be dutifully liveblogging UFC 105 tomorrow (Spike TV, 8 p.m. ET/PT), because we’re curious to see how Pac-Man does against WBO welterweight champ Miguel Cotto in their 145-pound contest at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. The Pacquiao/Cotto broadcast starts at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. on HBO PPV, so hopefully you live near a kickass sports bar that will be showing both fight cards at the same time. Check out the first installment of HBO’s 24/7: Pacquiao-Cotto above; Pacquiao fans, show some love in the comments section below.

(‘Affliction…nope, sorry, doesn’t ring a bell.’)

Remember when Affliction trumpeted a huge announcement, which was mostly a ploy to detract attention from the “rescheduling” of their second event?  And remember when that huge announcement was that they would be partnering with Golden Boy Promotions, thus bringing the feuding cousins of MMA and boxing together?  And then Golden Boy said, ‘screw that,’ and decided to promote a competing boxing match on the same night?  

Well on today’s conference call to promote the upcoming De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight, the ever-intrepid Michael David Smith (or MDS, if you’re nasty) of MMA Fanhouse hit Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer with a question about whether they’d really be promoting both the Affliction: Day of Reckoning card and the Mosley-Margarito bout on the same night.  His answer was the equivalent of when you asked your mom if you could stop for ice cream after soccer practice and she responded with, ‘We’ll see.’

"I don’t want to talk about it right now," Schaefer said. "We’re still trying to finalize it. The one thing I know for sure is that Antonio Margarito and Sugar Shane Mosley will be fighting on January 24."

I don’t know about you, but to me that does not sound like a man who is involved in a solid partnership that he is genuinely excited about.  Granted, Schaefer’s first order of business on this call was to promote the upcoming fight, not one in January, but he stopped just short of saying that he does not know, nor does he care what Affliction does on Jan. 24.  Will they have a show at all?  Your guess is probably as good as Schaefer’s, with the difference being that you might actually give a damn.