ESPN Boxing

Out of sight, out of mind. In the boxing business, if you aren't on TV, you sort of don't exist. That's why Alisher "Ali" Rahimov is trying to draw as many eyeballs as he can to prove to fight fans that he's a solid player in the lightweight division.

Rahimov, a Uzbekistan-born Russian citizen, sports a 23-0 record (with 12 KOs) and is highly regarded by the WBO, which has him rated at No. 2 at 135. But by and large, he is not a known entity to fight fans.

His co-manager, Vadim Kornilov, expects that to change, by a good degree, Friday night at the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, Mo., when Rahimov shows off his technical savvy, hand speed and solid pop against a fighter well-known to the "Friday Night Fights" crowd: Ji-Hoon Kim (23-7, 18 KOs), the somewhat unrefined but always aggressive 25-year-old who has won two straight after losing his previous two.

Rahimov has a solid amateur pedigree, having amassed a 268-18 record and represented Uzbekistan at the 2000 Olympics, but inactivity has bedeviled him as a pro. He has fought five times since 2009; that's fine if you're Floyd Mayweather Jr. and you make nifty bank fighting occasionally. But for the 34-year-old Rahimov -- even if his body doesn't show much wear and tear, and his stamina and skills haven't shown noticeable degradation in the gym -- time is of the essence. A move needs to be made now.

"We're trying to get him busier," Kornilov told me. "Hopefully, after this fight, things will change. We're hoping once he gets on ESPN, things will change."

Lest anyone think that Rahimov is a homebody who is reluctant to leave the familiar comforts of Siberia and wants the action to come to him, Kornilov said the boxer is happy to troop anywhere in the U.S. to find meaningful fights. Rahimov was scheduled to fight South Korea's Kim in January on ESPN, actually, but his mother died and he pulled out of the fight.

"He has no problem with traveling," the manager said of Rahimov, who has fought only twice in North America. "He's happy to be here and wants to show everybody what he can [do]."

So what will he show Friday against Kim, a fighter who turned pro with zero amateur experience?

"I've seen Kim, he's always on shows when Ruslan Provodnikov is fighting," said Kornilov, who also manages Provodnikov. "A lot of people point out his defensive flaws. I think Ali takes advantage of that early. He punches a lot, has heavy hands. I think Kim has flaws we will take advantage of from Round 1."

With the David Haye-Dereck Chisora heavyweight clash coming to full fruition, it sure seems like bad behavior is being rewarded.

You'll recall that after Chisora gave a decent account of himself against Vitali Klitschko on Feb. 18 in Munich, dropping a 12-round decision, he got into it at the postfight news conference with David Haye. Party-crasher Haye had become something of a laughingstock after he set an unofficial record for talking a big game and then not coming close to backing it up when he went into scaredy-cat mode in his scrap with Wladimir Klitschko in Hamburg last July, losing a lopsided decision. Haye started yapping at Chisora at the presser, apparently to lure him into a tilt, and it looks like it worked. The yapping turned into a full-blown brawl, with Haye smashing a beer bottle on Chisora's mug. The authorities looked into the event afterward, and boxing received its trillionth black eye.

But guess what? That display of idiotic thuggishness will probably result in a massive payday for the two miscreants. A square-off between Haye and Chisora is slated for July 14 in London, although uncertainty remains on the specifics because neither Haye nor Chisora has a license to box in England. Haye gave his up when he "retired" last October, while Chisora's was yanked for his unruly behavior prior to and after the Vitali fight. Most likely, things will get ironed out, because tickets have gone on sale. In fact, 17,000 were sold on the first day of release. No surprise, interest is high in a clash between the two bad actors.

Wladimir Klitschko (57-3, 50 KOs), the 36-year-old heavyweight champion, was asked if he is distressed that the fighters' poor behavior is being rewarded.

"All of the champions since Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, Muhammad Ali and Rocky Marciano have tried to polish the sport of boxing, and make it as glamorous as it is, and the behavior of Dereck Chisora is sending the wrong message to the youth -- that means, the worse you behave, the more money you are going to make, and you're going to be known for it," he said. "So it's definitely sending a wrong message, and I totally disagree with the decision from the Luxembourg Boxing Federation to give permission and license. And by the way, promoters are promoting this fight as the fight of the century, which is totally nonsense, because they both lost to [the Klitschko brothers]."

No word yet on whether any U.S. entity will televise the bout. I'm guessing none will, so if anyone in the States was thinking they could boycott the fight to show their displeasure that Haye and Chisora will benefit despite representing boxing in such a degrading fashion, that option likely won't be available.

Word is out that Juan Manuel Marquez will not, in fact, be gloving up at Cowboys Stadium in July, and it looks as though he'll be playing the waiting game, holding out for Manny Pacquiao and a fourth tangle between the two tighterthanthis rivals.

Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, is aiming for a November clash between his fighter and Marquez, whose welterweight title bout in November resulted in a Pacquiao majority decision -- and yet another disputed outcome in their rivalry. I asked Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, to weigh in on the possibility of another Manny-Marquez tussle.

"It's not my favorite fight," the trainer said. "We fought three times, Manny beat him two out of three times. I don't see the point in it. They know each other so well. If we can't get [Floyd] Mayweather, I don't see why we fight Marquez again."

Beyond Mayweather, Roach cited his desire to see Pacquiao face the winner of the scheduled Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto rematch, but our chat took place before Berto tested positive for nandrolone, scuttling the fight.

Any better ideas, Freddie?

"Brandon Rios makes a lot of noise," Roach said.

"Friday Night Fights" analyst Bernardo Osuna has the latest on Miguel Cotto's possible next opponent (hint: Could be another classic Puerto Rico-versus-Mexico throwdown), where Amir Khan goes from here and Marcos Maidana's next move.

Karim Mayfield enters tonight's "Friday Night Fights" main event with what he believes to be a bit of a mental edge over foe Raymond Serrano. Both men were in Danny Garcia's camp ahead of Garcia's March 24 bout with Erik Morales, and Mayfield -- a 30-year-old San Francisco resident who is tutored by Andre Ward's trainer, Virgil Hunter, the 2011 BWAA Trainer of the Year -- approached Serrano.

"Wanna spar?" Mayfield asked Serrano. The Philadelphia-based boxer didn't bite.

Now, the possibility exists that the only reason Serrano didn't take Mayfield up on the offer was because he knew that they would soon be meeting in the ring for real. But Mayfield wonders ...

"His trainer said, 'They offered us a fight with you,'" Mayfield noted. "But they first said 'no.'"

Like us regular folk, boxers will attach themselves to a moment, and perseverate on it, to give themselves a mental boost when needed. Mayfield implies that Serrano didn't want any part of him at Garcia's camp, and also that he gave Garcia, who won a vacant 140-pound crown against the living legend Morales, the business in sparring.

"They put me in when Danny, who was primed and ready, so I got the best of him," Mayfield said. "He was at the top of his game -- he was peaking."

Mayfield (15-0-1, 9 KOs) has good skills and punching power, but he can sometimes appear awkward. One wonders if he isn't looking past the 22-year-old Serrano (18-0, 8 KOs), ranked No. 9 by the WBA, and Friday's clash at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. If so, it could wind up biting him in the trunks.

"After this fight, I'm definitely going to be campaigning for a big fight," said Mayfield, ranked No. 9 by the WBO. "I think I should be in top contendership."

That's up for debate, frankly. Career-best wins over Steve Forbes and Patrick Lopez don't demand a zoom up the rankings ladder. Both have lost their past three bouts, which include 2011 losses to Mayfield.

All in all, I'd say it's preferable for a fighter to veer to a too-healthy appraisal of self rather than holding on to too much self-doubt. In that regard, Mayfield makes it clear in which camp his psyche lays. He says viewers tuning in tonight will see a bit of Roy Jones Jr., Willie Pep, Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. But this one looks like a coin flip. Serrano will look to touch up Mayfield's body, and although he doesn't possess scary power, he has a rock-solid skills base.

Few fighters have had more of a roller-coaster career of late than Brian Viloria. In August 2006, Viloria -- a Hawaiian of Filipino descent -- had a 108-pound belt, an undefeated record through 19 fights, a strong and growing fan base, an exciting style in the ring and, in the form of the old "Hawaii Five-0" theme, the catchiest ring entrance music in the business.

Then he ran into Omar Nino Romero. Looking surprisingly flat and uninspired, Viloria struggled with his Mexican opponent, dropping a unanimous decision and losing his belt. Three months later, he and Romero fought to a majority draw that was later called a no-contest after Romero flunked a drug test. Viloria's old title was declared vacant, but in his third consecutive disappointing outing, he failed to win it back when he dropped a majority decision to Edgar Sosa in April 2007.

Two years later, "Hawaiian Punch" seemed reborn, capturing a belt with a late stoppage of Ulises Solis; and then just like that, it all looked over again after a 12th-round TKO loss to unheralded Carlos Tamara.

But now Viloria's career has entered a third act. He moved up to 112 pounds, won another title and, in his most recent outing, defended his belt in an impressive eighth-round stoppage of Giovani Segura. On Saturday, he will meet Romero for the third time, this time in Manila, in a bout that will be shown in the United States on Integrated Sports PPV. Should he finally dispatch his nemesis, plenty of interesting opponents await Viloria. Here are five:

Edgar Sosa (45-7, 27 KOs). Two years after defeating Viloria to annex a junior flyweight title, Sosa lost it inside two rounds to Rodel Mayol and was outpointed in his only subsequent title tilt by longtime champ Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. But Sosa remains a credible contender, and if Viloria can avenge his first defeat, what better way to show that this time he's for real than by reversing his second loss?

Hernan Marquez (33-2, 25 KOs). In ESPN.com's divisional rankings, Viloria is ranked No. 2 while fellow titlist Marquez is No. 1. Marquez's 2011 war with Luis Concepcion was fight of the year stuff. A unification clash with Viloria would almost guarantee action.

Sonny Boy Jaro (34-10-5, 24 KOs). Normally, Jaro wouldn't belong anywhere near this conversation, but after sending Wonjongkam to his first defeat since 1996, the journeyman suddenly finds himself holding a title belt. This could be a natural in the Philippines, and even though Viloria would be a big favorite, his habit of dropping fights he shouldn't could lend this an intriguing air.

Milan Melindo (26-0, 10 KOs). Another potentially attractive all-Filipino clash could see Viloria taking on the undefeated rising youngster. Melindo is the No. 1 ranked contender for Viloria's belt, so this match could be the most likely to be made.

Roman Gonzalez (32-0, 27 KOs). This is probably the least likely of Viloria's potential fights, with Gonzalez still campaigning at 108 pounds. But what a mouth-watering challenge it would be. "El Chocolatito" is one of boxing's best-kept secrets, a terrific young fighter with outstanding knockout power. A fight with the veteran Viloria could raise Gonzalez's profile in the United States overnight.

LAS VEGAS -- Five things we learned from Saturday's Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Miguel Cotto card at the MGM Grand:

1. There's good, there's very good, and there's great

With every fight, Mayweather is moving up the all-time list. For years, one knock on his record was that, as good as he frequently looked, we didn't know how he would react when he was rocked or when he was in a real dogfight. We know now. When Shane Mosley hurt him badly in the second round of their fight two years ago, Mayweather turned it around and dominated every minute of every subsequent round. When Cotto dragged him into the trenches Saturday night, Mayweather engaged him, firing off the ropes; and when it looked like the effectiveness of that technique was waning after Cotto's blistering eighth round, Floyd changed strategies completely and sailed away with the final third of the bout.

There are plenty of reasons that those fans who don't like Mayweather will find to support their position. But his skills and ability shouldn't be among them. We are watching a genuinely great boxer in his pomp. Whatever our feelings of him as a person, we should allow ourselves to enjoy and marvel at his talent.

2. Seriously, enough's enough. It's time

For all the talk of "that" fight, for all the yapping from both sides, the prospect of Floyd Mayweather fighting Manny Pacquiao has, in the buildup to Saturday's contest, rarely if ever seemed more remote. But now, more than ever, it has to happen. Cotto was the best of the rest and he has been summarily dispatched. Outside of, say, Sergio Martinez or perhaps, in the case of Pacquiao, a fourth meeting with Juan Manuel Marquez, there's nobody left. Assuming Pacquiao makes it past Timothy Bradley Jr. on June 9, Mayweather-Pacquiao has to be next. Even as he poured cold water on the prospect of the fight ever happening, Mayweather admitted that "there's really nobody else out there for me."

3. Miguel Cotto was sold short

Even among those who gave Cotto credit for his skill and experience, who offered the caveat that against almost any other likely opponent, he would be favored, the Puerto Rican star was given next to no chance. One person who didn't sell him short, at least publicly, was Mayweather, and as he stood at the postfight news conference with his face uncharacteristically marked up, it was clear why. Cotto fought with enough intelligence and persistence that, through eight rounds, the outcome of a Mayweather fight was genuinely in doubt. He fought an almost perfect game plan; it's just that on this night, against this man, it wasn't enough.

4. Canelo Alvarez is a work in progress

There was much to be impressed with in Alvarez's victory over Mosley: He was unruffled, he was steady, he didn't panic when an accidental head-butt opened up a cut over his left eye. He planted his feet and threw compact punches with plenty of torque that thudded off Mosley's head with real impact. At the same time, there are still some areas for improvement, as is to be expected from such a young fighter. Alvarez could stand to be more active, to throw more punches, to start earlier. When he threw combinations, they were beautifully effective; he just didn't throw them enough. A case could be made that, after almost folding Mosley in half with body shots in the ninth, Alvarez should have taken it up a notch and tried to finish him. But for all the doubts and incomplete grades, this fight also highlighted the talent that is there, and the reception from the crowd underlined the stardom that assuredly awaits Alvarez as long as the wins keep coming.

5. The ride is over for Shane Mosley

Whatever doubts had been raised about Mosley's commitment to battle after the disappointing performances against Pacquiao and Mayweather, the 40-year-old erased them with his determined effort to stand and trade with the younger, stronger Alvarez. But while he was not afraid to pull the trigger, Mosley's punches lacked the speed and snap that were his trademark when he was at his peak. He looked at times almost as if he were punching through treacle. It is often said that the last thing a fighter loses is his punch, but Mosley had nothing in his arsenal with which to deter his younger foe. As Mosley admitted, when the young kids start beating you, maybe it's time to turn to promoting. Mosley has had a terrific career. It's time for that career to end on the relative high note of making a defiant last stand.

LAS VEGAS -- A single night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on June 26, 2008, nearly ruined the boxing career of Miguel Cotto.

Nearly four years later, he proved to everyone it didn't take the best of him.

Cotto has rarely looked the same since suffering the worst loss of his career at the (perhaps loaded) hands of Antonio Margarito in that welterweight title bout, the first meeting between the fighters.

Cotto, 31, holds a strong belief that Margarito used illegal hand wraps during that fight, and he finally exacted his revenge late last year in the form of a stoppage win in the 10th round of their rematch. He then swore he would perform better after having closed the emotional chapter on Margarito.

Few believed him. Heading into Saturday's light middleweight fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Cotto was listed as more than a 4-to-1 underdog and was generally given no shot against his faster, more technical opponent.

Eventually, Cotto did succumb to Mayweather's speed and defensive skills. The result was familiar, with Mayweather claiming a decision win via fairly lopsided scores.

Those who witnessed the fight, however, saw the details not recorded in the scores. Cotto pushed Mayweather, more so than perhaps any of the 42 who came before him. He cut off the ring and bloodied Mayweather's nose with punches in the sixth.

He appeared the strongest, mentally, that he has since the Margarito loss. Although he still faded a bit late, as he has been known to do, that was more attributed to Mayweather's resiliency than any break in Cotto.

"I'm happy with my fight and with my performance," Cotto said. "So is my family. I can't ask for anything else."

The Las Vegas crowd went wild after the eighth round, when Cotto forced a few exchanges out of Mayweather in the corner of the ring.

The greatest surprise, though, occurred in the moments when Cotto had success in the middle of the ring. He was still at a disadvantage in that type of fight against the quicker, more mobile Mayweather, but he wasn't thoroughly dominated, as many would have expected him to be.

Defensively, Cotto seems to be improving under head trainer Pedro Diaz. He refused to be dictated by Mayweather's jab and effectively controlled the range at which the fight took place throughout.

"Cotto shocked me," Mayweather said. "He was slow, but he was awkward. Anybody who goes in with Cotto, you better be ready. His record reflects where he's at, and he deserved to fight me."

In a way, Cotto's record does reflect where he's at -- and then it doesn't.

A 5-3 showing over the course of his past eight bouts isn't typically the result associated with a boxing superstar. Cotto was beaten badly by Manny Pacquiao over the course of 12 rounds in 2009, and his latest wins have come against inferior competition.

Saturday, however, might be the best reflection of where Cotto truly is: a fighter still improving, finally over the heartache of the worst loss of his career and still capable of competing at the highest level.

LAS VEGAS -- Canelo Alvarez is listed as a 9-to-1 favorite over Shane Mosley in Las Vegas this weekend. Come Monday, Nazim Richardson hopes everyone remembers that.

Richardson, Mosley's trainer since late 2008, is standing firmly behind his 40-year-old fighter heading into Saturday's 154-pound title fight against Alvarez. Mosley is 0-2-1 in his past three fights, and some believe he's filling the role of a big-name victim to be added to the young Alvarez's résumé.

Should his fighter play spoiler to that scenario, Richardson doesn't want to hear any backtracking or claims that maybe the 21-year-old Alvarez wasn't quite ready.

"When Shane Mosley blows him out the water, please don't reduce Canelo and say he was never ready or he never fought anybody," Richardson said. "You guys are saying this is the next thing coming."

Richardson is already headed into the fight somewhat frustrated by the perception he believes boxing fans and media have of Mosley. For the record, the head trainer had his concerns about sending Mosley into the ring against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in 2010 and 2011, but it had everything to do with a few undisclosed injuries his fighter had and nothing to do with his boxing ability.

The two shy away from discussing the lower back pain Mosley felt leading up to the fight against Mayweather and the Achilles injury he suffered prior to the Pacquiao fight. The last thing either wants is to appear to be making excuses.

Richardson says it's been difficult, though, for his man to receive so much criticism based on two fights in which Mosley wasn't 100 percent and fought two world-class fighters.

"I was just upset with the media and the public," Richardson said. "I equate it like this: If my ball team lost to the Dallas Mavericks and the L.A. Lakers, would they say they shouldn't be on the court no more? Because you lost to the Dallas Mavericks and the L.A. Lakers?

"They're two of the last guys to win the championship. What do you mean we shouldn't be on the court? We're still a viable team."

Mosley claims he is now the healthiest he has been in years, and went so far as to say his speed is better now than it was two years ago when he fought Mayweather.

He'll need to be at his best -- certainly better than what we've seen of late -- to get by what Richardson calls, "a young monster" in Alvarez. If Mosley is successful, the trainer said his fighter had better get proper credit.

"These [younger fighters] grew up on Shane Mosley, so when they fight him, they rise to another level," Richardson said. "I'm expecting that of Alvarez. He's going to do things in this fight we've never seen him do."

Among fans of all sports, I believe it behooves fight fans in particular to do their homework on a boxer, get into his backstory a bit, before weighing in on his talent or character.

Too often, I'm quick to judge this guy for coming in out of shape or that guy for not trying hard to rise off the canvas after being knocked down. A goodly percentage of the time, those fighters I've dissed or dismissed, or just critiqued a bit too hard from the comfort and safety of my sofa, have been working two or three jobs and sneaking in gym time when they can, while keeping hope alive that one day they'll topple that golden boy, get that title shot and win it, and live happily ever after.

Saturday night, when 99 percent of fight fans will be fixated on the goings-on in Las Vegas, Rudy Cisneros, a 30-year-old Chicago boxer, will try to topple his own golden boy foe, Demetrius Andrade, 24, at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. The fighters will headline a Saturday edition of "Friday Night Fights," which was put together at the last minute after promoter Golden Boy promised ESPN a headline bout featuring Daniel Ponce De Leon, and then pulled it, because it finalized a deal with Fox Sports Media Group.

Cisneros is a heavy underdog, to be sure. And if the long and lean Andrade (16-0, 11 KOs), a 2008 U.S. Olympian living in Rhode Island, does what many expect and stops Cisneros (12-3-1 NC, 11 KOs) inside 10 rounds of their junior middleweight bout, all of us should note for the record that Cisneros works two jobs or more at a time to keep his wife, three kids and himself afloat financially. He works delivering groceries for Peapod, and construction jobs when he finds them, and has also worked as a baggage handler at O'Hare Airport, his trainer George Hernandez tells us.

"Hey, it's the business of boxing," said Hernandez, who maintains that Cisneros no doubt has the pop to drop and stop Andrade if he catches him. "It's why everyone has to be ready all the time. We got word for this fight, like, three weeks ago. Andrade's people are looking for wins, trying to catch people sleeping. But it's up to Rudy to change the cards he's been dealt."

In other words, no, it's not ideal to begin training at 7 p.m. when you were up for work at 4 a.m., but it is what it is.

"It's what he wants to do," Hernandez said of Cisneros. "This is boxing, not the NFL. Only a select few have people excited about them. Others out there, nobody is interested in them. They are opponents."

Cisneros was on Season 2 of "The Contender," but he washed out early and was stuck in a Contender contract, Hernandez said, for too long. Cisneros has described himself as a "stalker" type in the ring, but we shall see how long that style lasts against the 6-foot-1 lefty Andrade, who has to know that Cisneros hasn't fought in a year and was stopped in Round 7 in his most recent outing, against Jonathan Gonzalez.

"Rudy has a dream to knock Demetrius out, get another payday," Hernadez said. "The Cotto-Mayweather fight might not be as exciting as Rudy's fight, or a fight involving a kid making $800. This is why this game of boxing is so unfair. But everyone has that hope and that dream, like the person who wants to win the $200 million Lotto. Everyone has the right to dream."

It appears on paper, Hernandez admits, that Andrade will pad his record, but the trainer ticks off a bunch of upsets in the past decade that remind us that paper is just paper. The ring is the thing.

"Demetrius hasn't tasted defeat," Hernandez said. "If he keeps boxing, he will taste defeat. One punch can change things. He'll taste defeat against Cisneros if he gets caught. But if I tell you we're gonna destroy this crafty lefty, I'd be lying. We know this is the toughest fight of Rudy's career. But we wouldn't be on our way to Connecticut if we didn't think this kid couldn't do it."

On Saturday, boxing fans will celebrate the Mexican festival of Cinco de Mayo by watching an American and a Puerto Rican do battle in the Nevada desert. More than anybody else, Oscar De La Hoya -- an American of Mexican descent -- popularized Cinco de Mayo (or the Saturday nearest to it) as a big fight weekend in Las Vegas, but since his retirement, the aforementioned American (Floyd Mayweather Jr.) and the Philippines' Manny Pacquiao have been the date's biggest pugilistic stars. Hey, imagine how crazy it would be if the two of them ever ... no, let's not go there. We have an actual fight to look forward to this weekend, a title bout between Mayweather and Miguel Cotto, and in the meantime, here's a reminder of some of the best May 5(ish) fights in Sin City's recent history.

5. Julio Cesar Chavez TD8 Frankie Randall, May 7, 1994, MGM Grand
Earlier in the year, Randall's points victory in the same venue brought Chavez his first official loss, in his 91st professional bout. The rematch was closely fought, but when Chavez said he was unable to continue after being cut by an accidental clash of heads, he was declared the winner on a technical decision (aided by a WBC rule that the accidental butter always be deducted a point; without that stipulation, the result would have been a split-decision draw.) The fight was the main event of a Don King card called "Revenge: the Rematches" that featured Terry Norris, Simon Brown, Julian Jackson, Gerald McClellan, Azumah Nelson and Jesse James Leija in perhaps the most stacked pay-per-view broadcast in boxing history.

4. Oscar De La Hoya TKO6 Ricardo Mayorga, May 6, 2006, MGM Grand
De La Hoya's final victory on the Las Vegas stage, and what a stirring one it was. Mayorga had genuinely infuriated the Golden Boy with his prefight taunts, and the vastly superior former Olympian punished him for it, dropping him once in the first and twice in the sixth. At his peak, De La Hoya brought an unmatched electricity to fight crowds, and this night was no exception. The atmosphere was off the hook, and as De La Hoya climbed the ropes to salute his fans in victory, it felt at the time like the perfect coda to a Hall of Fame career.

3. Manny Pacquiao D12 Juan Manuel Marquez, May 8, 2004, MGM Grand
The first installment of an intense and ongoing rivalry almost didn't make it past the first round of this encounter. Pacquiao, fresh off his shocking annihilation of Marco Antonio Barrera, flattened Barrera's countryman three times in that opening frame. Somehow, Marquez survived and fought his way back into the contest. Two fights and eight years later, Marquez remains Pacquiao's nemesis, and vice versa.

2. Manny Pacquiao KO2 Ricky Hatton, May 2, 2009, MGM Grand
This year was Pacquiao's annus mirabilis, in which he followed his 2008 demolition of De La Hoya with stoppage wins over Cotto and, previously, Hatton. The Englishman was down twice in the first round, unable to escape Pacquiao's right hooks, but was working his way back into the contest until PacMan uncorked a thunderbolt of a left hand at the end of the second to leave him spread-eagle on the canvas.

1. Diego Corrales TKO10 Jose Luis Castillo, May 7, 2005, Mandalay Bay
One of the greatest fights of all time -- heck, one could make a case that it was the greatest fight of all time -- will be forever remembered for its conclusive 10th round. Castillo put down Corrales hard and seconds later knocked him down again. Corrales spat out his mouthpiece and earned a point deduction for doing so, but it bought him precious time while the mouthpiece was cleaned, time that trainer Joe Goossen used to tell Corrales, "You'd better f---ing get inside of him now." And so Corrales did, summoning the strength to crack Castillo with a perfect right hand and then tearing into him on the ropes until referee Tony Weeks stopped the contest.

Corrales never won another fight. Two years later, to the very day, he was dead. But his memory, and the memory of his greatest moment in a boxing ring, will live forever.

Saturday's challenge of junior middleweight champ Miguel Cotto will be Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s sixth successive fight at the MGM Grand and his ninth overall. Here's one man's take on Mayweather's five most memorable appearances at what has become boxing's marquee venue:

5. Sept. 17, 2011: Victor Ortiz

Ortiz was at a high point, coming off his dramatic win over Andre Berto, but he was no match for either Mayweather or his own lack of judgment. Frustrated by his inability to pierce Mayweather's defense, Ortiz launched his head into his opponent's in Round 4, prompting referee Joe Cortez to call time out and deduct a point. When Cortez called time in, Ortiz was focused more on hugging Mayweather to apologize than on defending himself; Mayweather clocked an unprepared Ortiz with a left and a right, putting him down for the count.

4. April 20, 2002: Jose Luis Castillo

Notable for being a fight that, in the eyes of many observers, Mayweather lost. Mexico's Castillo was able to pressure Mayweather for periods and take him out of his comfort zone, but the American won a unanimous decision on the judges' scorecards, and he did so again in the rematch across the street at Mandalay Bay.

3. Dec. 8, 2007: Ricky Hatton

Unforgettable. An estimated 30,000 Brits descended on the Strip, all but emptying the MGM of beer and constantly reminding everyone that there was "only onnnne Ricky Hatton." That one Ricky Hatton was likely seeing two Floyd Mayweathers after walking into a check hook that sent him face-first into the ring post in the 10th. And still the Brits kept singing ...

2. May 5, 2007: Oscar De La Hoya

Was this really five years ago already? Overdramatically dubbed "The Fight to Save Boxing," this was the event that turned Mayweather into a superstar. Overcoming early resistance from a stiff Golden Boy jab, Mayweather scored a split decision win in a contest that secured a record 2.4 million pay-per-view buys.

1. Jan. 20, 2001: Diego Corrales

Like Mayweather, Corrales was an undefeated 130-pound titlist, and there were plenty of prognosticators who expected him to prove too strong. But you can't hurt what you can't hit, and in what remains Mayweather's most sublime performance, Corrales could hardly lay a glove on his rival. Mayweather, by contrast, couldn't miss his, dropping Corrales five times before Chico's corner stopped the contest in the 10th.

When Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather Jr. face off in the ring at the MGM Grand on Saturday night, it will be several years after a meeting between the two men was first mooted. According to Cotto, however, one person who wasn't entertaining the possibility when it was initially suggested, when both men were campaigning in and around the junior welterweight division, was Cotto himself.

"When I was at 140 pounds, I was an immature boxer, you know," he told reporters after the final prefight press conference on Wednesday. "I didn't think about him, because he was a great champion, he was a guy who was above me on all levels. But now we are in the same boat."

Asked what he will do to counter Mayweather's perceived advantages of speed and skill, Cotto offered no specifics, but merely the calm understated confidence that has long been his trademark.

"If nobody [has] found the way to beat Floyd Mayweather [so far], you're going to see how a person can beat Floyd Mayweather on Saturday," he said.

Mayweather, for his part, smiled at suggestions from journalists that perhaps Cotto might deploy his vaunted body attack or look to make their contest a brawl, and hinted at vulnerabilities in the Puerto Rican's defense.

"Even though Antonio Margarito got in trouble for loaded gloves, you've got to say to yourself: He's not that fast, so why was he even getting hit with those shots?" he asked rhetorically of Cotto's first professional defeat, which came in July 2008 in subsequently controversial circumstances. "I think I get to the target quicker because I throw straighter than some other fighters."

By and large, though, Mayweather remained, as he has been throughout the promotion, respectful toward his opponent.

"Miguel is a true warrior, a tough champion, and to go down in the Hall of Fame as one of the best, you have to face the true champions out there," Mayweather said.

Said Cotto: "He's been a gentleman the whole way with me. I've been a gentleman with him. That's the way it should be. You get paid to fight in the ring, not outside the ring."

LAS VEGAS -- It wasn't the first time a crowd had gathered in the MGM Grand to welcome Floyd Mayweather Jr. during fight week, and it likely won't be the last.

Tuesday's throng wasn't nearly as large a gathering as the one that greeted him and Ricky Hatton almost five years ago, but the uniquely Mancunian tsunami that swept over Las Vegas that week defies comparison. Still, there was a sizable British contingent awaiting Mayweather this time, too, and when he looked out from the stage, he sensed their presence instantly, shouting out to them and leading them in a brief rendition of their version of "Winter Wonderland" -- with some slight adjustments, of course. ("There's only one May-weather," he began, and the fans seemed more than happy to play along.)

Saturday's card is dubbed "Ring Kings," and so, one by one, the main protagonists -- Shane Mosley and Saul Canelo Alvarez, who tangle in the co-main event, and Mayweather's opponent, Miguel Cotto -- took their turns upon arriving to sit atop a throne on a dais in the MGM Grand lobby. There, they answered questions from cruiserweight B.J. Flores, who was hosting a live stream of proceedings and who showed the poise and timing of a media veteran, before addressing some TV cameras and disappearing to sit with a phalanx of writers.

Mayweather was last to arrive, 45 minutes after the advertised time, and he took almost that long to make his way through the crowd, signing every autograph he could and soaking up the adoration. Instead of sitting on the stage, he commandeered it, a master showman in his element. And when it was his turn to talk to the TV crews, he wasn't hurried or anxious to move along. He knew full well that this was his show, that it was all about him and that it would move at whatever speed he wanted it to. I took up position behind ESPN's Bernardo Osuna, relaxed and confident that I would get my time to ask all the questions I wanted.

I hadn't counted on the fact that Mayweather might generously be described as having a low boredom threshold. Once Bernardo had finished, I moved into position, but Mayweather had gone, taking off across the stage to immerse himself once more in the adoring throng.

We watched his route through the crowd -- a task made considerably easier by the enormous specimens of humanity who were the bodyguards walking immediately behind him -- hopped down from the stage into his path, smiled and caught his attention. One never knows which Floyd will emerge in an interview: Will he be angry and petulant, happy and charming, thoughtful and expansive? Today, he was feeling too much love to be the former. Instead, he could be found a short distance from Column B and far off from Column C, not necessarily answering the questions he was asked, but holding forth in the way he wanted, the way that would best sell the pay-per-view.

He smiled his big smile into the camera and disappeared again into the crowd, his location easily determined by the wave of sound that greeted him from each new knot of fans, until the lobby fell quiet, and he was gone.

The best way to celebrate a highly satisfying weekend of boxing action? How about a week's worth of killer coverage ahead of Saturday's Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Miguel Cotto junior middleweight title bout in Las Vegas?

To kick things off, "Friday Night Fights" previews Mayweather-Cotto in the clip above.