I swear to God, Larry Merchant is more famous than ever right now. Isn't that weird? Anyway, Merchant, who duked it out verbally and almost physically on Saturday night after Floyd's knockout of Victor Ortiz, says that "Money" would be the favorite if he were to fight Manny Pacquiao in three months' time:

"I think Mayweather would be the favorite because he’s a wizard of defense and a defensive wizard is hard to beat because he’s taking fewer risks and leaves fewer openings for opponents to fill. But there’s an old saying in baseball that good pitching beats good hitting and vice versa, so if anyone has the vice versa in them, it’s Pacquiao."

I think Merchant is right in his assessment here. I've been saying "Larry Merchant is right" a lot lately, which is starting to weird me out. But Mayweather (42-0, 26 KO) would probably open as the favorite on the sportsbooks, though I suspect the odds would be damn close to even. Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO) has never, ever faced a defensive genius like Mayweather. You might argue that Mayweather has quieted offensive storms like Manny brings in the past, but I do think it's a fight where both would be facing the best fighters they'd ever faced.