I've been saying all along (and I'm far from the only one) that the only way we'd see a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight happen in the first half of 2011 is if Pacquiao told promoter Bob Arum that he wants that fight, and only that fight. But maybe there's another way after all. Maybe the two best boxers in the world could simply talk to each other on the phone and work things out between themselves.

It sounds crazy, but we now know that it happened yesterday: Mayweather called Pacquiao in the Philippines, and it was apparently about the fight and splitting the purse 50-50. Other than that, we don't know much else.

Yes, Pac-fans, the title of this post pretty much says it all. Nike will no doubt come up with more Manny merchandise when he takes the ring again in late May or early June (but definitely not May 5, we know), but until then, the 2011 stuff has to go.

Everyone who blew up Twitter and the internets in general with hate toward a potential Floyd Mayweather-Robert Guerrero can settle down now.

That's because Guerrero won't be Mayweather's opponent on May 5, according to ESPN's Dan Rafael. He got that directly from Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer, so you can take it to the bank, or at least be as certain as possible considering we're talking about boxing here.

And because we can't go a day now without someone in an official capacity commenting about whether Manny Pacquiao will finally fight Mayweather, we've also got Pac-Man adviser Michael Koncz telling the Associated Press that the Filipino phenom won't fight Floyd on May 5 either. Echoing comments made by Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum earlier this week, Koncz said that the only way it would make sense (dollars, actually) to hold the fight in Las Vegas is after a large, temporary outdoor arena could be constructed, an undertaking that apparently can't be finished by Cinco de Mayo.

It seems almost absurd to think that some fight other than the much-discussed, oft-wished for Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather mega-fight could be any more lucrative for anyone involved. The reason contemplating such an idea is almost ludicrous is pretty simple: Pacquiao-Mayweather would be the biggest bout boxing has seen in decades. It would bring in more revenue for the venue holding it, the network that broadcasts it and the fighters themselves than any other potential match-up.

Yet one person may have a financial interest in the fight not happening, at least for now. And since that person is Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum, who just happens to promote Pacquiao, one begins to see an understandable (if still unfortunate) reason why the event everyone wants to see stubbornly refuses to come together.

After all of the times we've seen Floyd Mayweather escape punishment in the ring, should we really be surprised that he danced his way out of reporting to jail at the last possible minute?

Though he was scheduled to report today to begin serving his three-month prison sentence for pleading no contest to domestic violence charges, Mayweather was granted until June 1 to report so he could fight on his previously announced date of May 5. Among the reasons given by the Las Vegas judge who made the somewhat surprising decision was the economic impact a Mayweather fight would have on Sin City.

It would have an even bigger effect on the money flow into Vegas' coffers if said Mayweather fight was against Manny Pacquiao. The bout that everyone wants to see but nearly everyone is getting tired of wondering when it will happen is sure to be to topic of much conversation over the next week or three. Sadly, the people who know best still don't expect it to happen.

Welcome everyone, to the slowest time of the year for boxing fans. I'm talking about the period from mid-December to early January when the sport essentially shuts down, at least at the highest levels.

On the plus side, that barren time is coming to an end. Just as the birds usher in the Spring, the return of Friday Night Fights heralds a brand new year of fisticuffs. And since FNF is coming our way in two days, we've almost made it.

In the meantime, we can debate who's hot and who's not, which is what our Power Rankings are all about (well, the former part anyway). This isn't a pound-for-pound list (we just did one of those, and we only do it once a year), but a pseudo-scientific manner of determining who has impressed the most during the last three years. It's probably heavier on the pseudo than the scientific, but none of us were math or physics majors, so we do the best we can.

Our top four remains intact from December, but there was shuffling around among the other spots thanks to Amir Khan's recent loss and Manny Pacquiao's victory over Oscar De La Hoya now falling outside the three-year rolling window for these rankings. And if that isn't one for the "time flies when you're having fun" file, I don't know what is.

On to the numbers! no comments

With another year of in-ring action in the books, it was once again time for the Boxing Watchers to put their heads together to formulate some kind of consensus on the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers on the planet. The key word is "once," since we only do this at the end of each calendar year.

The thinking behind doing it annually is that we don't want to overreact to each big victory or loss by a top pugilist. If we updated monthly, or heaven forbid, even more frequently than that, we'd run the risk of having guys slide around on the list so much that it would start to lose its meaning.

Or would it? It occurred to me while compiling this list that there hasn't been that much movement even though it's been 12 months since we last did it. Pac-Man, Money and Maravilla are still up near the top. Wladimir Klitschko and Timothy Bradley remain in the bottom half. A few boxers who dropped off the list since last January (like Juan Manuel Lopez and Fernando Montiel) deserve it since they were forcefully removed.

Anyway, those were just a few musings I had while adding up the votes from the BW brain trust. Whether you agree or disagree with our rankings, feel free to let us know. no comments

Other top ranked boxers had more victories during 2011. Certainly, quite a few produced more explosive wins. But if fulfilling long-held expectations and proving your class against some of the best competition out there mean anything - and they really should - then Andre Ward enjoyed a better year than anyone else practicing the sweet science at its highest level

Ward's two in-ring performances came in the semifnals and final of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, and he was simply too much for his opponents. He breezed through former middleweight titleholder Arthur Abraham in dominant fashion in May, then proved too fast and too tricky for Carl Froch a few weeks ago. Though critics will point out that he won't have a definitive claim to the title of super middleweight king until he faces Lucian Bute (something that apparently won't be happening in the near future), Ward is correctly being thought of as a top five pound-for-pound fighter.

I was all set to lead off this post by stating that there was no Gatti-Ward during 2011. Then I realized that I led with that last year.

So yes, no instant classics during the last 363 days, though it felt like there were more really good fights overall than in 2010. Some highly anticipated bouts didn't turn out quite the way we may have expected. Fights like Mares-Agbeko II proved to be more tactical than balls to the wall. Others, like Cotto-Margarito II, just weren't as close as truly great fights should be.

Still, in terms of action, drama and intrigue, it was hard to top what transpired when Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto met in April. I daresay it exceeded all expectations. no comments

We may wait until the very last minute around these parts, but rest assured the Boxing Watchers eventually hand out year-end awards just like every other sports site on the internets. We're kicking things off with our Knockout of the Year, and we'll progress on to the Fight of the Year, Fighter of the Year and our top 10 pound-for-pound list (which we do only once a year) over the next few days.

There's always an inherent hazard of recency bias in looking back over the whole boxing slate from 2011, because more recent fights naturally tend to stick in our minds. Hopefully we're avoiding that pitfall by going all the way back to February for our most memorable stoppage, which was Nonito Donaire's short night against Fernando Montiel. no comments