The imminent spectacle/fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather jr. is shaping up to be the biggest fight (monetarily) of all time. More importantly, with a big boost to the business of boxing, is the unprecedented buzz that has swelled around the negotiations for the fight. Thats right, the buzz spawned from the words on a preliminary work-agreement between managers. Usually, once a fight is consummated the media is notified and then the wheels of hype follow. In the case of this "First Blood" epic, the media's early entry into the daily coverage of the negotiation process has created a rolling snowball effect. The first indication that this was not just a boxing enthusiast's "high-alert" level fight was the emergence of a bidding war to host the fight between two or three high-profile venues. The eye-raising public overtures made by Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones lit up main-stream media outlets in North America, as well as abroad. Jones is the meddling, self-promoting long-time owner of the Cowboys who has attracted NBA games, rock concerts and now the Manny Pacquiao - Joshua Clottey fight to the new Billion-dollar venue. The stone-serious Jones bid a record $25 million (U.S.) to host the Pacquiao - Mayweather tilt, and settled for hosting the March 13 Clottey tilt for about $7 million as an appetizer.

Unlike most boxing, sports or mainstream news journalists I am not jumping on the bandwagon that labels "Pac - Money" as a missed opportunity or "last chance defibrilator" for boxing. This is the type of hysteria commonly practised by the uninformed new age media, who illuminate their general ignorance of the history/business of boxing with facile statements. The fight of the century is basically in stewing mode at this juncture. The public's appetite has been teased, and will continue to build until cooler heads firm up the match for a summer/fall date. There are plenty of cases where huge fights have been displaced for years for various reasons. Hagler - Hearns was supposed to go in 1984 but percolated for eighteen months as (the usual suspect) Bob Arum 'Hag-gled' with Hearn's managers over money. The Tyson - Lewis showdown should have taken place in 1996 when "Iron Mike" had collected two belts after his incarceration. Don King paid Lennox step-aside money so that he could take on Bruce Seldon & the safer/older Evander Holyfield. Holyfield TKO'd Tyson and the big fight that November night in the desert. Eventually (over six years) Tyson rehabbed his reputation beating a bunch of safe names (Orlin Norris, Frans Botha, Lou Savarese, Andrew Golota) to set up the biggest money fight of all time against Lewis in 2002. Give full credit to Manny for taking on a strong/viable welterweight in Joshua Clottey. Clottey took Cotto and Margarito to the edge in title-fight challenges, ultimately losing close decisions. If (yes, IF) Manny gets by Clottey, it should be clear sailing to the huge Mayweather fight. I say this with confidence because I would bet "Money" that young Floyd will not fight anyone with a punch or a chance in the interim.

Bawdy Shots :    The deal for Top Rank Promotions to provide 36 weeks worth of fights on Fox Sports Net is good news for boxing fans. The old deal on Versus was for the few who had access to the channel...

The middleweight scrap on ESPN's Friday Night Fights between Roman Karmazin & Dionisio Miranda was an exciting off the mat/comeback with multiple knockdowns and a conclusive KO ending. Gradually, boxing has worked its way back into the dens of most homes in America(as well as the eyes of the sponsors)...

I was happy to see that Jermain Taylor was pulling out of Showtime's Super Six tourney. I have been told by someone in his camp that the head injury incurred was more serious than reported...

Look for jr. middle prospect Vanes Martirosyan to stop former front-runner Kassim "the Dream" Ouma on Fox Sport Net's inaugural show...

I will be reporting from New York next week from Madison Square Gardens for HBO's double-header featuring Yuriorkis Gamboa (vs tough Rogers Mtagwa) and JuanMa Lopez's title challenge of Steven Luevano. Both are evenly-matched/ tough fights.