Three years ago, when Floyd Mayweather, Jr. was fighting the likes of Henry Bruseles in half-empty arenas, I thought him the worst-marketed fighter in boxing. He was an elite fighter taking on mid-card competition and he appeared as a villain to boot. With his amazing $20 million payday for a match with The Big Show at Wrestlemania, Mayweather shows what a difference a few years makes. An appearance on Dancing with the Stars, the megafight with De la Hoya, and the "Born in the USA" entry against Ricky Hatton prove that Mayweather has become one of those rare fighters who can transcend boxing and appeal to a mass audience. I'd rather see him go phone-booth toe-to-toe with Miguel Cotto, but I'm glad he at last has become an ambassador for the sweet science.

Just goes to show the fine line between 'sport' and sports entertainment these days. If there really is a line at all anymore. This topic seems to demonstrate that there is not.

I'm not a purist but I do kind of long for the days when the athletic endeavor was the foremost important thing. Now it's just money and once proud athletes will lower themselves to the level of trained monkeys for a buck.

So if you were Mayweather, you wouldn't "fight" The Big Show for $20 million?

Stupid matches like this only hurt WWE. Same thing last year when they did K-Fed vs. Cena, which didn't draw any new fans. You'd think Vince would learn from his bad business ventures (XFL?).