So while Floyd (supposedly) is going to ride off into the sunset for two years, unless there’s another eight figure check to pick up, it was a great way to end an average 2007 in the boxing world. Mayweather is singing a happy tune around Vegas, but there are some sour notes as the calendar is about the turn. In no particular order, let’s sound the trumpet….

To Floyd – Stay retired. Don’t come back. Go out on top. Talk to one of your promotional partners, Bernard Hopkins about going on too long. B-Hop had 20 consecutive title defenses and took a green Jermaine Taylor for granted. Although Pretty Boy has more championships than I have watches, his detractors are now claiming he hasn’t conquered the welterweight division because Hatton is and was a 140 pound fighter. Who cares, this win cements his legacy and no one at 147, not Cotto, Williams or Margarito can generate the green that he’ll want to get back in the ring.

To Ricky – Good show, mate, even though you never had a chance. Put the money in the bank and go fight guys your own size (and reach) from now on. While we’re at it, the four fights after you beat the over the hill Kostya Tzysu won’t get you to the Hall of Fame. A marginal win against Collazo, lackluster triumph against Urango, the fair catch signaled by Castillo because he wasn’t get paid and then getting whacked by Floyd isn’t creating a legacy. While your homeland fans will always love you, the American audience may start thinking you’re just another overrated British fighter.

To the throngs of British fans that crossed the pond – Was certainly an interesting weekend in Vegas with 25,000 Hatton fans in town simultaneously with the National Finals Rodeo (never heard the word “yonder” more in my life). While locals were worried about hooliganism by the English, I wasn’t. The rowdy ones were back in the UK because they don’t have the $ 2,000 to fly to Vegas for the weekend. I especially felt bad for the Brit I met at the Octagon Bar at the Venetian early Sunday morning who paid $ 1,400 to sit 6 rows from the top of the MGM Grand and couldn’t see a thing. Thanks for enriching my bartender friends in town.

To my pal, Wayne McCullough, former bantamweight champion on the world – When they first made this fight I asked Wayne, who’s close with Hatton, what Ricky’s chance were. “Forget it, Ricky doesn’t stand a chance, he doesn’t have the lateral movement.” Talk about taking something to the bank.

To Mark Cuban – Just sit at ringside next time.

To Eric Gomez, Richard Shaffer and Oscar at Golden Boy Promotions – Now that you’re doing business with Bob Arum, please, PLEASE sit down with him and learn how to build a promotion and moreover, an undercard. The matches were painful to watch and if I see Daniel Ponce de Leon one more time, I think I’m going to vomit. Maybe GBP can sign a ranked heavyweight in 2008? For all the money they’ve made, you can’t point to any fight they’ve developed over the last three years. Even Don King got Nikolai Valuev a title.

To Mark Taffet and Rick Bernstein at HBO – Just for kicks and giggles, can you retire the Jim Lampley/Larry Merchant/Manny Steward team for just one night? You know, like an experiment. Lampley was the master of the obvious, “the undercard was uninspiring”, talk about going through the motions and mastering the use of clichés, eh? Hey Jim, is MMA still not a threat to boxing, too? Merchant, well, do I even have to say? The most embarrassing on air statement I’ve heard in a long time was his admission that he wasn’t paying attention to the Jeff Lacy-Peter Manfredo, Jr. fight. I guess he was working for free, if grouchy Larry going to ignore a fight, give me the mike and analyze it. It’s not as if these guys are unknowns, Lacy’s a couple of years removed from the super middleweight title, while Manfredo has currency from the Contender TV series. The fight was dog and the color analyst’s duty is to tell you why, not say he wasn’t watching, that’s unprofessional. But that’s why all boxing fans continue to wonder why Merchant takes up space on these shows. Hmm, maybe because HBO’s still scared of putting Max Kellerman in the spotlight? I’d be scared too, if that’s my other option. As UFC octagon announcer Bruce Buffer would say…..”It’s time!”

To Rich Marotta, the host of “The Neutral Corner” on a 570 KLAC Los Angeles radio station – On the morning of the fight doing a live broadcast from the MGM media center, with all types of media types crawling around, Marotta saw fit to play a ten minute tape of the previous day’s weigh in. Wha? That’s right, if you were listening, you heard an audio tape of English fans screaming at Floyd while Marotta did the play by play. Not radio programming at its finest when you had 300 media members at your disposal at the moment.

To Bernard Hopkins – “I would never let a white man beat me.” Obviously, B-Hop was referring to Joe Calzaghe and not Kelly Pavlik.

And finally to my main man, Bill Trillo, who helps run Pound4Pound.com and is one of the nicest guy in the business – How about that Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.?!?