6:23 PM Update: Kessler weighed in at 167 pounds, and Ward at 166 1/2. Both looked to be in good shape. Waldo will have more from the weigh-in later.

Where's Waldo? He's in Oakland. Waldo Rastel (better known to many of you as waldo47) is on the scene today for the official weigh-in for tomorrow night's Super Six tournament fight between WBA super middleweight titlist Mikkel Kessler and unbeaten American and former Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward.

Waldo covered the press conference a couple of days ago, and will have live updates again today in the comments section of this post, including the weights as they come in. The whole shebang is scheduled to start at 2pm local time in California, so 5pm ET. No word on whether or not there will be another high school cheerleading performance.

Don't forget that Bad Left Hook will also have live, round-by-round coverage and scoring tomorrow night starting at 10pm ET.

Lately, there's been a lot of noise that Bob Arum is putting out feelers to have a Pacquiao-Mayweather superfight in a location other than Las Vegas.  He's already spoken to Jerry Jones about using the Dallas Cowboys' stadium.  There have been some quieter rumors about looking at Wembley Stadium in the UK.  But at the end of the day, the fight needs to be in Vegas, and it has nothing to do with the fight atmosphere.

Mayweather and Pacquiao are both in it for the money

Heck, Mayweather even goes by the name "Money" these days.  Pacquaio often comes across as being a bit more altruistic, but he cares about the dollars as well.  He threatened to put the kabosh on his fight with Ricky Hatton until Hatton agreed to a 50/50 split of UK revenues.   And whoever promotes the fight, the promoter surely stands more to gain by having the fight in the most profitable location rather than the most significant location.  To figure out where the fight would be held, you need to follow the green brick road.

You can charge exorbitant ticket prices in Vegas

One great thing about the Nevada State Athletic Commission is that they actually publish all of their live gates, so you know how much a fight has made just off the ticket sales.  The all-time high live gate was Mayweather-De La Hoya, which brought in over $18 million in ticket sales.  Mayweather-Hatton brought in over $10 million.  Pacquiao-Hatton and Pacquiao-Cotto both brought in about $8 million.  This means that Mayweather-De La Hoya was able to average over $1,000 per ticket.  Even the lowest of these, Pacquiao-Hatton, averaged about $575 per ticket.  Figure that a megafight of this magnitude would be somewhere in the middle, but probably closer to the record.  Splitting the baby, which I think is conservative, they would be able to sell 17,000 tickets at about $800 a pop.  That brings in $13.6 million in live gate alone.  Nowhere else in the world is there enough money just waiting to be spent that you can average a ticket price that high.

The casinos are willing to pay...

For the biggest fights, casinos are willing to pay massive site fees in order to retain a fight.  If you have a huge fight, tons of people (not just the people buying tickets) end up in the casino, and at the end of the day, the house wins more money than it spends from the extra gamblers.  Mayweather-Hoya was rumored to have a site fee in the $15 - $20 million range, although no official number was released.  Mayweather-Hatton had a $7 million site fee.  Even a dud like Hopkins-Calzaghe got an $8 million site fee from Planet Hollywood.  Conservatively, the site fee for a fight this big should be around $10 million, and it could be much larger than that.  That brings revenues from holding the fight in Vegas up to around $23.6 million, and possibly as high as around $35 million.

...and others aren't

Once upon a time, there were mysterious benefactors who wanted to pay for the biggest fights in order to bring publicity to their countries.  To host the Rumble in the Jungle, President Mobutu paid Don King a site fee of $10 million (about $35 million in 2009 dollars).  I just can't think of any benefactor who would be willing to come up with that kind of coin to have the fight hosted in their hometown.  Bob Arum's been talking for years about having a big fight in Dubai, but it would probably cost someone $30 million out of pocket to make it worth everyone's while to hold a fight over there.  With budget crunches everywhere, it's unlikely that anyone would be willing to pay a huge site fee unless they pretty much know they'll be getting the money back, like a casino.

The fight needs to be indoors

This one's pretty self-explanatory.  In the past, there have been major fights aired in temporary outdoor stadiums, but that just can't happen.  First, the liability is too great these days to have a large temporary stadium.  Second, if a fight gets rained out, everyone loses lots of money.  It wasn't such a big deal when fights were being aired on network TV - if there's a rainout on World Wide of Sports, they can just put the fight on next week's edition, and everyone's pretty happy.  But in a pay-per-view situation, a rescheduled fight would probably require months of remarketing to ensure that they do not lose massive sales.  This precludes a lot of otherwise attractive venues from being feasible. 

To make up the difference, you need a massive venue with high ticket prices

Even assuming that a fight at the MGM Grand would only generate $23.6 million, in order to make more money than in Vegas, you would need to sell out a 100,000 person stadium at an average price of $236 a ticket.  A 65,000 seat stadium would need to sell at an average price of $363 a ticket.  A 40,000 seat venue (i.e., a baseball stadium with a retractable roof) would need to sell at an average price of nearly $600 a ticket.  And to achieve as much upside as Vegas' potential, you'd need to increase those average ticket prices by 50%.  Outside of Vegas, where are you going to find enough people with that kind of money?  In addition, when looking at these averages, you need to keep in mind that you can't charge nearly as much for a majority of the seats in the venue, simply because tens of thousands of people aren't going to pay $300 for nosebleed seats. 

While holding the fight in a huge venue outside of Vegas is an intriguing idea, it's just not that feasible.  Without some deep pocket guaranteeing a lot of cash on the side, it's unlikely that a fight outside of Vegas could generate more revenue than a fight in Vegas.  And in this economy, I don't know if anyone's ego is that big.

I'd like everyone at Bad Left Hook to join me in a warm welcome to The Boxing Bulletin, SBN's newest site and a brother community for us in covering the sweet science. You may already be familiar with the site, as they've been pumping out fantastic analysis for a while now. They're a wonderful team of writers and I couldn't be happier to call them colleagues under the SBN banner.

Some recent highlights from The Boxing Bulletin that will get you familiar with their work:

Pacquiao's Triumph, Cotto's Tragedy by Jeff Pryor

Rendall Munroe-Simone Maludrottu Preview by Matt Chudley (Bad Left Hook will cover this show live at 5pm ET today, and this is as good a preview for the fight as you're going to find)

Boxing's Best Seniors - 10 Big Wins from Fighters Over 40 by Andrew Fruman

Ryan Rhodes-Jamie Moore Photo Gallery (Photographer: Chris Royle)

Interview with Odlanier Solis' Trainers Pedro Diaz & Russ Abner by Ivan Montiel

David Tua Can Still Make Some Noise by Lee Payton

Bernard Hopkins, 44, may be boxing's most notable "senior," but he's not the only one. Combat sports in general are seeing athletes push on into their mid-40s as top competitors. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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Bernard Hopkins will turn 45 on January 15. One day later, his old rival Roy Jones Jr. turns 41.

And if they have their way, the two of them will meet sometime in the months after, in a rematch that has been brewing for almost 17 years.

Both have obstacles to get past on December 2. Hopkins will look to shake off some rust against tough Mexican Enrique Ornelas in Philadelphia, Hopkins' hometown where he's never lost (10-0 career). Jones will be in Australia to take on minor cruiserweight titlist Danny Green. Should both win, the papers are already signed and drawn up. They'll meet again in 2010. They fought way back in 1993, with Jones winning a decision that Hopkins considers the only legitimate loss of his career.

They are probably the two best of boxing's 40-plus contingent, but it's a demographic that is changing, and changing the way we think about athletic primes. In other sports, a lot of these late-career surges have come from the use of performance-enhancing substances. Neither Hopkins nor Jones has ever failed a post-fight drug test. The same can't be said of 41-year old James Toney, who has done so twice, but Toney, too, continues on in search of glory.

Really, we're seeing what happens with the continued evolution of training, nutrition, and strength and conditioning coaches that have made age if not nothing more than a number, then at least closer to that old cliche becoming a genuine reality.

Evander Holyfield, 47, keeps looking for another heavyweight title fight. He does so foolishly, but the Holyfield types are becoming more the exception than the rule. Even Jones, once thought to be washed up after back-to-back knockout losses to Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson a few years back, has rebounded to spring back into legit contention at 175 pounds yet again. Fellow former heavyweight titleholder Oliver McCall, 44, continues to fight as well.

Current WBC cruiserweight titlist Giaccobe Fragomeni of Italy turned 40 in August. Light heavyweight has been chided as a Senior's Tour in boxing the last couple of years, but Glen Johnson (40) and Antonio Tarver (40) are still in the division's top ten for legitimate reasons. Tarver has given no indication that he plans to keep his career going following his second loss to Chad Dawson in May, so he might or might not be out of the conversation soon. Junior middleweight contender Verno Phillips turns 40 in just a couple of weeks.

It's a select few, and Hopkins is certainly one of a kind in boxing. He has never truly slowed down from his prime; he's not the same "Executioner" that made mincemeat of the middleweight division for 10 years, no, but he's a top pound-for-pound fighter even still.

Yet you can't help but wonder if this is going to keep becoming more and more the norm. Shane Mosley is 38 and as a welterweight, has shown no actual signs of getting slower, weaker or older. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is only 32, but has fought in such a way and is so much more than reflexes that if he wanted to, he seems like the kind of guy that could go on forever as a top boxer.

In MMA, some similar things have happened. Surely everyone has heard of Randy Couture by now, the 46-year-old UFC superstar whose career has been amazing to watch. Couture was pulling "Hopkins over Pavlik"-style beatdowns before before Bernard really knew who Pavlik was. Couture has slowed, yes, but still holds his own to say the least.

And Couture is rumored to be facing Mark Coleman at UFC 109 in February. Coleman turns 45 in December. Couture-Coleman nearly happened 11 years old, but was scrapped when Couture was injured. In some ways, Couture-Coleman and Jones-Hopkins II could mirror one another. They're both fights past their due dates, but with some intrigue in both cases, and there will be a fair number of fans looking to turn back the clock with the fighters for both of those bouts.

Fighting is still a young man's game. Scan the top fighters, and generally we're talking about guys who are 26 to 32 years of age. But the dinosaurs are getting harder and harder to kill off, and no matter how many times the younger generation of fighters keeps saying they'll retire before 35, I keep wondering whose fights we'll still be talking about coming next week in 2020.

Miguel Cotto plans to continue fighting after taking a break from the sport. But he won't be fighting Antonio Margarito. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Miguel Cotto is a terrific fighter. Overlooked in his loss to Manny Pacquiao will inevitably be that fact, because boxing fans so often have such short-sighted views of the fighters that populate this demanding, glorious sport. While touting the idea that an undefeated record isn't everything it's cracked up to be, the collective is also too fast to pull their trigger on a fighter being washed-up, finished, irreparably damaged, or whatever you might want to call it.

Miguel Cotto isn't shot. Is he knocked down? Yes, but he's going to get back up.

Doug Fischer at The Ring posted an article on Sunday about Cotto's professionalism, and his desire to keep fighting. Our own Brickhaus posted something similar in tone, looking at Cotto's future options immediately after the loss to Pacquiao.

Cotto, 29, says he'll be taking a break from boxing. He deserves it. Miguel Cotto, as he says, fights the best. When he moved up to welterweight, he did so with a fight against crafty, unbeaten fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Quintana, and he stopped him with a body shot. Zab Judah was the next good name on the hitlist, in 2007. Cotto beat Shane Mosley. And in July 2008, the Margarito fight happened. Earlier this year, Cotto took on Joshua Clottey, a welterweight nobody else wanted to fight at the time.

So what really is next?

Bob Arum says the Mosley-Berto winner could be next for Cotto, but I'd doubt that. True, if Mayweather-Pacquiao materializes, the Mosley-Berto winner only has a few options himself. A great fight could lead to a rematch, but otherwise, you're looking at Cotto and Clottey as potential opponents, maybe Paul Williams at 154 pounds (I am no longer convinced Williams can make 147, as he hasn't in a good while now).

Arum also keeps talking about Antonio Margarito. Miguel Cotto has taken the hard line on that one: No Margarito rematch. While Margarito's team thinks Cotto can be lured by money, I don't think he can. And Arum can keep telling us that we all want to see Margarito-Cotto II, but again, there are a lot of us that have no interest in seeing Margarito against anyone.

I think a lot of it boils down to this: In boxing, you are putting a certain amount of trust in your opponent to be square with you, to not put you in any more danger than the sport itself presents naturally. Could Cotto ever trust Margarito to do that? He's stated clearly he thinks he loaded his wraps when they fought the first time. There's no way Miguel Cotto can trust Margarito on that level. Cotto has children. Cotto has a family. He's got a lot of life to live when he's done boxing. Do you want to risk all that for a payday with a guy whose reputation is so tarnished that, frankly, I don't think it's even that big of a fight anymore?

Would YOU risk it?

I wouldn't. I don't think Cotto will, either. If Margarito does get his license back in California in February, expect Bob Arum to have some difficulty finding anyone other than journeymen and "nothing to lose" guys to fight him, at least for anything remotely resembling a split they'll want. Other promoters aren't going to want to risk their stars against him either. Maybe for 80-20 and a very thorough check of the wrapping process, though...

Margarito has a tough row to hoe if California lets him return. And even if they do and Cotto is offered more money than the fight is even worth, don't expect to see that rematch. Ever. And I think we're better off with professionals like Miguel Cotto not wavering on issues like this, too.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. appears to know he has no choice but to fight Manny Pacquiao. (Photo by Will Hart, via www.hbo.com)

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Floyd Mayweather Jr. appears ready to fight Manny Pacquiao to settle the pound-for-pound discussion in boxing. CNN talked with Mayweather, who seems far more concerned with everyone's potential reactions than he does with the idea of the fight actually happening. Hey, what do you know, Floyd's more concerned with his image than the fight!

"The thing is with Pacquaio I don't see any versatility as a fighter; he's a good puncher but just one-dimensional. The world's going to go 'wow' if Floyd Mayweather gets beaten. That's what everyone is looking to see."

Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s Greatest Hits

Track One: "Everyone Wants to See Me Lose"

Hey, Floyd: This is what you get when you purposely play villain. I'd like to believe that Mayweather still knows that and is continuing to play the role, but I don't think he is anymore. I think he's hurt by the fact that he gets so much flak. I think it genuinely bothers him. I always had the same feeling when Oscar would so desperately try to get the hardcore Mexican fanbase to love him. He needed to be accepted there, and he just never was. Floyd made a lot of money being Bad Guy Money Mayweather, but now he sees this phenom Manny Pacquiao, and he wants that level of appreciation, respect and love. He probably wonders why he doesn't have it. It's no secret why he doesn't have it. The two of them really couldn't be much more different.

(Bonus Track: "I don't see any versatility as a fighter," from the man that fought the much lesser-regarded Ricky Hatton, as one dimensional a top fighter as there's been in a long time.)

"If I beat Manny Pacquaio do you know what they are going to say?"

Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s Greatest Hits

Track Two: "Things People Will Say About Me (People Are Mean to Me)"

"'You are supposed to beat him, you are Floyd Mayweather, you are the bigger man'. If I knock him out they'll say 'you're supposed to knock him out he's been knocked out before'."

Floyd. Floyd. Floyd. Seriously, Floyd. No one's going to point out Pacquiao's knockout losses to Rustico Torrecampo and Medgoen Singsurat. They were a boxing lifetime ago. Manny Pacquiao is not that fighter anymore. But of course, to you, losses are the most important and horrifying thing ever. You don't have any! Greatest of all time, man!

In fact, forget this Pacquiao joker and his three losses. Just fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. -- you'd even have to move up in weight for that one! That'd take cojones. He's never lost. Chavez > Pacquiao. Hey, Hatton still has less losses than Manny. Fight Hatton again! I think Baldomir is still fighting. Get him for a rematch! Last two proper welterweight champions square off again! I mean, I know he has lots of losses, but that didn't stop you before, did it?

"I'm in a no-win situation..."

Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s Greatest Hits

Track Three: "I Just Can't Win"

"...and when I beat him no one is going to be surprised because he's been beaten before; whatever I do to Pacquaio has been done before - he's been beaten on three occasions. And if I knock him out I don't want the world shouting because he's been knocked out twice before."

Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s Greatest HIts

Track Four: "Don't Focus On This One Thing I Keep Talking About"

Floyd, I assure you, if you knock out Manny Pacquiao, no one is going to say, "Oh well, Pacquiao got knocked out in 1996 and 1999, so in 2010, we should've really seen it coming."

Mayweather sounds like a child being forced to do something because punishment will be forthcoming should he not. "Fine, mom, I'll take out the trash, but then you're just going to say, 'Hey, clean your bedroom!' When am I gonna get a break around here?!"

And for the Alliance of Boxing Fans Who Need to Protect Floyd Mayweather, let's just get it all out of the way first: I'm a hater, I only want to see him lose, I'll be so happy if he loses, I'm a hater, I'm a hater, I'm a hater. We've heard it all before.

Boxing fans have spent 15 solid years or so bitching about boxing not being what it used to be. Record-protecting stars like Mayweather are a big reason that's the case. So which is it? Does Floyd have nothing left to prove and should we all accept his mediocre opponent selection because he's so talented and rich and the rest of us must be jealous, or do you want to see the biggest and most important fight in at least two decades?

Mayweather's act is tired. He has to take this fight. If he wins -- and as I've said already, I think these are the only two fighters that can beat each other -- then heap the praise. I know I will. What Mayweather and some of his quick-to-defend fans fail to accept is that we all want to cherish Floyd in his active career, or at least I think most of us do. He's an amazing athlete and like Pacquiao, does things no one else in boxing can do. They've got different skill sets, and both of them are the peak of those skills. But Pacquiao has gone out and taken challenge after challenge after challenge, and has fought his way into the hearts and minds of not just his home country, but boxing fans all over the world. Pacquiao has helped boxing grow, a throwback who came from nowhere to become one of the biggest stars in sports. Mayweather is also a huge star, but he has been protecting his "0" like a mama bear for years now.

There's nothing about Mayweather in the ring I dislike. I think he's a joy to watch perform. He's so talented. But against who anymore? You know why Floyd thinks he always hears, "Well you should have won, so what's next?" Because since the Castillo rematch in 2002, every fight he's taken has been a no-brainer, except maybe Oscar since he moved up so high in weight. Mayweather-Judah was going to be a really interesting fight, until Judah crumbled three months beforehand against Carlos Baldomir of all the damn people.

There has been no one on his record that people thought could really beat him. You might say, "Well, that's because he's so good," and yes, he is so good, but that's not the whole reason. A big part of it has been the fact that he took on the likes of Henry Bruseles and Arturo Gatti, Sharmba Mitchell and the deadly slow Baldomir. There were better challenges out there. They didn't happen. And it wasn't just one thing that didn't happen, it has been several. There's a pattern. What's the constant? It's Floyd.

All that aside, I think we're going to see Mayweather-Pacquiao, and that's what's really important. In some ways, I think the backlash over the Marquez "fight" has made it inevitable. Even if Floyd WANTED to avoid Manny (and I don't know if he does or not), he can't now. If Juan Manuel Marquez was good enough to be an opponent for Mayweather, there's no excuse for him not fighting Manny Pacquiao, who will get him paid more money no matter what the split is, and has proven to be a top fighter up through the welterweight class.

After weeks of sniping on the internet, Shane Mosley and Andre Berto announced a January 2010 fight in Las Vegas this weekend. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

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In January of 2009, Shane Mosley and Andre Berto both made headlines in boxing. But they almost fought each other.

Back in November 2008, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley were lining up to fight in January 2009. But Margarito wavered over money, and spent most of the season complaining that Oscar de la Hoya took no challenge by facing Manny Pacquiao (funny how that turned out, huh?). With Margarito-Mosley on the rocks, Mosley turned to Andre Berto, the unbeaten young titlist that HBO had been pushing hard for the last couple of years.

Mosley-Berto, said Mosley in a radio interview, was good to go. Berto said the fight was agreed to in principle.

Shortly after that, Margarito came around, and Margarito-Mosley was signed. Berto fought past Mosley victim Luis Collazo instead, one week prior to the Mosley fight.

On January 17, Berto overcame the first truly stiff challenge of his career, furiously showing his grit and desire in a 12th round he absolutely had to win. Not only did he win it, he dominated the round, leaving no doubt which way that frame should have been scored. Berto was fought tough, and he proved himself.

On the 24th, Mosley was the underdog against Margarito, the super-sized welterweight with the iron chin and relentless spirit. We all know the wraps controversy, but whatever -- Margarito's gloves were clean that night, and Mosley picked him apart from the opening bell. It was the 37-year old "Sugar" Shane who was the relentless banger, as Margarito was too slow to find Shane, who beat him ferociously until Margarito's corner threw in the towel at 43 seconds of the ninth round.

His win was so overwhelming, so complete and so dominant that it left boxing in absolute shock. Lou DiBella (Berto's promoter) can say what he wants about that fight now, but when it was first brought up months prior, DiBella was quoted as saying that Margarito "would put Shane in a pine box."

11 months later, Mosley has tried and failed to land a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Both went in other directions. And though he spent most of the year making his case verbally, he steps back into the ring at 38 years of age on January 30, 2010, to face Andre Berto in a welterweight title fight that will have past, present and future all stamped on the banner.

Berto, 25, is fast. And he's strong. He made brick-built 140-pound titlist Juan Urango look immobile in May, a fight so uneventful it's been nearly forgotten already on the sheets of both men. It wasn't the sort of impressive we wanted from Andre, and Urango simply went back to 140 and put on a wild slugfest with Randall Bailey a couple months later.

Shane Mosley is an active legend, a Hall of Famer-to-be whose career looked to be winding down before he beat the living crap out of Margarito and gave himself new life. But as fashionable as it has become to fight into your 40s, and is improved an experience it is for those fighters these days, we can't ignore his age.

Mosley is 38 years old, and no one's going to compare Margarito and Berto as similar fighters. Shane won't have Margarito's slow punches coming back in this one; it'll be Berto, who can at least match Shane for speed, if not outquick him at this stage of their careers. And while Berto doesn't have the sort of thunderous power that many of Mosley's past opponents have had, he's got more than enough to keep Shane honest, even considering Shane's own granite chin.

Mosley (46-5, 38 KO) once lost four of six fights, with another one of those bouts ending a no-contest. Those days seem like an age ago, as he's lost just once since 2004, a heated 2007 confrontation with Miguel Cotto. He has shown no actual signs of slowing down, other than his occasional jumps to 154 pounds, a weight he simply doesn't carry well.

Berto (25-0, 19 KO) will have to hope Mosley is slowed down, or that he can at least make him look like he is. His natural ability and speed will help him, but he's also going to face a new toughest test ever, and Shane Mosley is not Luis Collazo. Berto showed guts and fortitude against Collazo, but Luis doesn't hit like Shane, isn't as fast as Shane, and just isn't as good as Shane.

It's way too early to start making predictions, but this is a fight that has me excited already. If Mosley pulls this one off, he continues an outstanding career with another fantastic win. If Berto pulls what will be an upset over the veteran, a new star could be born. This is the fight Berto has been groomed for, and it's time for him to show what he's got on a new level.

Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. must meet in the ring next. (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

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There's no doubt anymore, and everyone knows it's true. The only fight for either Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao is Mayweather-Pacquiao.

FightHype is reporting that Floyd gave Golden Boy Promotions to negotiate on his behalf for the fight, which is an encouraging sign. Mayweather apparently got in touch with Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer less than two hours after the fight, who then put in a call to HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg to tell him he'd gotten the go-ahead from Floyd.

Now, that doesn't mean anything will happen here. Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times has a great quote from Greenburg about it:

"It's a simple negotiation. There's so much money to be made. If it doesn't happen, there'll be a revolt. Nothing else is acceptable, and I'm speaking on behalf of the American public and the sport itself."

Schaefer is confident that he and Top Rank's Bob Arum can work it out, but also makes it clear he believes Floyd is the alpha at the negotiationg table:

"Bob and me -- how often have we failed to make a big fight? ... How did Pacquiao-Marquez do versus Mayweather-Marquez? How did Pacquiao-Oscar do versus Floyd-Oscar? ... Getting them together is a mega-fight that has to be made. We'd all have to be morons to not let this happen."

A quote from Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler does give me the idea that Top Rank isn't so confident that this fight can (or perhaps should) happen:

[Trampler] said it's naive to believe intangibles like "the good of boxing" will influence the deal.

"This has nothing to do with that," Trampler said. "These are two businessmen who are going to do what's best for themselves."

Here's what I'm going to say about that, and keep in mind I understand what he means.

This is not about the mythical "good of boxing." This is about making the ONLY fight in the sport that the public at large has interest in seeing anymore. It's been built. Floyd came back and won big in a huge money fight. Pacquiao topped that in terms of entertainment and challenge two months later. We'll see if he topped it on the business side, but many people have sounded confident that they could have done just that, which would make for an amazing fight overall.

This is not about fans being naive and living in a fairytale world. This is without even a close peer the biggest money fight in boxing. If everyone's such a businessman, including the fighters, they understand that. What else is "best for" these two men if not this fight? What, the Mosley-Berto winner? The backlash that comes from either of them fighting someone else?

There's nothing else. It's the mega-fight to end the mega-fights. What fight has been bigger and more relevant than this one could be? Two amazing fighters, the undisputed 1-2 pound-for-pound in the world. What's the last time that happened?

So, OK, fine. It doesn't have to be about the good of boxing, though it is about that. Make them each a graph and show them the potential money for this fight compared to literally anything else they could do. It can be about everyone's wallets if that's what you want it to be. However it has to be to make the fight happen.