Epic in the Bronx?

Manny Pacquiao proved why he's currently the best fighter in the world (in my view) by pulverizing a game Miguel Cotto in 12 rounds Saturday night. A showdown between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather is inevitable. Everybody wants it - fans, media, cable outlets, DirecTV, sports bars. All that has to happen is the fighters agreeing, and from there business people and promoters biting their tongues when it comes down to the zillions, billions and trillions they'll be making.

If this happens, the Yankees have reportedly expressed interest in hosting it at Yankee Stadium next spring. This has to happen. Boxing is enjoying a second wind in terms of publicity and the two best fighters need New York's stage to showcase that a buzz not felt since the Mike Tyson era is back. (Breaking the law and biting ears are no longer required either.)

Spike TV countered Pacquiao-Cotto with a free airing of UFC 105 (though it was well over an hour before the card ended when the bell for the boxing match rang for Round 1). The disturbing trend of controversy surrounding the judges at ringside continued with Randy Couture's paper-thin victory over Brandon Vera. I normally have little to no tolerance for horrible, inferior officiating, umpiring and judges, but I too felt Couture won the fight - barely, only because he was able to neutralize Vera's offense when he needed to. Of course, Vera was pissed at the verdict, but if there's any lingering doubt about him being a top-tier light-heavyweight, The Truth put that to bed. Vera has proven he's changed course and career is no longer at a crossroads.

Dan Hardy will get the next shot at Georges St. Pierre's welterweight title, though I wasn't impressed with his win over Mike Swick. The lack of a killer instinct against an opponent clearly not on his 'A' game bothered me. Hardy's simply not at GSP's level. Then again, who is at the moment?

Very excited about WEC 44 Wednesday night (which means the DVR will be set to "The Ultimate Fighter"). Mike Brown vs. Jose Aldo headlines a solid show that includes Manny Gamburyan (Karo Parisyan's cousin)-Leonard Garcia. Karen Darabedyan-Rob McCullough and Danny Castillo-Shane Roller. This bout won't be aired unless there's down time, but Cub Swanson has an extremely important fight against John Franchi on the preliminary card. The last time we saw Swanson, Aldo blasted him in eight seconds. There are big questions about Swanson's ability to perform in major fights; Jens Pulver made him tap 35 seconds into their WEC 31 showing. Still, he's an exciting fighter who trained with Greg Jackson for Franchi. We'll see if that excitement can finally be harnessed properly.

WEC co-founder and general manager Reed Harris angrily dismissed a report of a merger between it and parent company UFC. Good for him. Why take the spotlight away from some of the sport's most breathtaking talent? The morons at the defunct World Championship Wrestling frequently bragged about how it recruited talent from around the world to compete in its cruiserweight division. Then the brainiacs buried them under the old and slow 'big names.' When you have something as unique as the talent in WEC, you maximize its exposure and showcase it as your niche product.

To be clear, Zuffa markets young and hot new starts virtually every day. What you don't want is to see too many good fighters get lost in the shuffle. Keeping WEC as a separate entity under one umbrella gives Brown, Urijah Faber, Brian Bowles, Miguel Torres and others their deserved time in the sun.

UFC 106 is Saturday on pay-per-view. I'll have more on the Tito Ortiz-Forrest Griffin rematch along with takes on the returning New York Badass Phil Baroni, and crossroad bouts for Parisyan & Brock Larson.