Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston. Ike and Tina Turner. Liz Taylor and Richard Burton. George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin. All were relationships that suffered through peaks and valleys that stretched and strained their unions. Some stuck together through thick-and-thin. Some broke up- only to get back together again. Some ties were severed for good. But at different times they loved to hate each other and inevitably, they also hated to love each other. They just couldn't help themselves.

You can add Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Bob Arum to that list. Prior to his successful title defense this past weekend against the tough Jose Luis Castillo, 'the Pretty Boy' had groused that he would soon be forced into retirement because of what he termed the 'negativity' surrounding boxing, skipped his pre-fight press conference at the Mandalay Bay -- angering officials from the hotel, HBO and Top Rank Boxing -- and engaging in another war of words with his promoter. All this for a guy who was supposedly boycotting the media leading up to his rematch with Castillo.

He had become boxing's angry young man. Not only was he unhappy at how he was being portrayed by the media, he was questioning his own promotional firm and had reportedly been having problems with his manager James Prince. But he sang a different tune after his winning performance against Castillo at the post-fight presser.

"I love all the fans -- even if the fans pay to see me lose, it doesn't matter," said Mayweather. "As long as you're paying, I appreciate the support from all the people. I want to give thanks to the media, thank Top Rank, I'd like to thank Top Rank, tell Mandalay Bay, this is the best place to fight at. Las Vegas is the home of boxing and this is my hometown, but I've got to give thanks to Grand Rapids, Michigan."

Later he would also thank, "all the photographers and all the people out there just doing their job, I want to thank my father, my grandmother, thank you."

While it was gracious, it has to be pointed out that in the last few years, at one time or another, he has alienated or fueded with just about everyone he thanked.

When asked about his relationship with Arum, Mayweather responded by saying, "Like I said, Floyd Mayweather is positive," said the WBC lightweight titlist who is sometimes engulfed in negativity.

"Bob Arum is my promoter, I have nothing bad to say about him. He's a great promoter."

Arum for his part was very complimentary of his fighter afterwards. This after a week-long pissing contest with his fighter. Arum and Mayweather have had one of the most openly contemptous relationships in sports and he veteran promoter made no secret that he was counting down the days and fights 'till his contract ran out with his precocious prizefighter.

But everything was hunky-dory after the fight, which seems to be a devolping pattern: Mayweather and Arum point fingers and bitch at each other as the fight gets closer and then kiss and make up later.

Arum admits as much.

"I think that at my age I've got to ignore some of the rough spots and know that at some point in there the clouds clear and you see the sunlight," he told MaxBoxing.com. "So at least I should be mature enough to realize it so I ride out the storm. Because that's what it is, everytime we have this tremendous brohahah, it's like a married couple, then the fights over and then, hey, you're married again."

Well, these two could definitely use a sit-down session with Dr. Phil, but who knows, maybe there will be sunnier days in store for these two (although sources tell me that it's unlikely that Arum will continue to work with Mayweather after this current promotional contract runs out), Mayweather agreed with Arum's assertion that he needed to be more active, not only to enhance his performance but also his marketability. Arum took that as a step in the right direction.

"Yeah, I think so. I think he realized that some of the shenanigans before the fight didn't help him," said Arum. "And he was the one that was hurt and I thought that he learned a valuable lesson and I think he's going to be a lot more amenable to some guidance in the future."

Arum mentioned that he'd like for Mayweather to fight sometime in March or April before taking on IBF titlist Paul Spadafora in July at the Black Expo at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Mayweather declined to discuss his future plans in the ring said that in his downtime that he will work on his record label (which in two years still has yet to produce a single album), his clothing line, come out with his own watch (how's this for a slogan: ' the Pretty Boy' says you don't know what time it is'), a movie (perhaps, 'the Life and Times of Floyd Mayweather) and a book (War and Peace -- With Your Promoter). Mayweather said to the assembled media, "I just want to be a young enterpeneur."

Which is interesting since he did a terrible job of selling his fight this past Saturday night. But the gifted young fighter says he'll be OK.

"Like I said before," as Mayweather concluded his session with the media, "people are hearing a lot of rumors about Floyd Mayweather, 'he's changing, he's arrogant'. I'm just happy with life, man, and I'm happy with my team, I'm happy with my promoter. I'm happy with my manager and I don't have any problems."

That is of course, 'till the final few weeks before his next fight.

HEAVYWEIGHT BORE

Is it over yet? Has Wladimir Klitschko finished off Jameel McCline yet? Yaaaaawn. The best way to describe this fight came from someone who told me, "One guy was afraid of the other guy, and that other guy was happy for it." Well said.

I'm not going to pile on 'Big Time' here. For a guy who had virtually no amateur experience and took up boxing in his mid-20s, he has done well. I mean just a few years ago he was a 'Heavyweight Explosion'-caliber fighter and then an opponent for Michael Grant last July. But put simply, he was overmatched in terms of experience, poise and technique by the much more seasoned Klitschko, a 1996 gold medalist.

As for him supposedly 'quitting', his corner did the right thing -- you try getting hit by the big Ukranian in that state he was in after the tenth round.

But if he's 'the best American heavyweight' as Jim Lampley surmised a few weeks back, we're in trouble. But in looking at McCline, Grant, Lance Whitaker and even a Derrik Jefferson the past few years, it's clear to me that this current generation of American born and bred heavyweight is a group of failed shooting guards, outside linebackers and big sluggers who couldn't hit the curveball.

In other words, our best big athletes in this country are now (and have been for awhile) on basketball courts, football fields and baseball diamonds. Only when they fail at those endevours, do they pick up boxing. As for Klitschko, he has all the tools, but I need to see more. He didn't look all that comfortable when McCline actually threw punches in his direction and we've all seen HBO-created big men fall on their face before. Let's put it this way, based on what I saw last night, I don't think Lennox Lewis has anything to worry about at this present time. But again, Klitschko is still developing and he has a long ways to go still.

As for the future of the American heavyweight, well, at least Dominick Guinn and Malik Scott had extensive amateur careers. But it'll be a long time before they make any impact. Where have you gone Larry Holmes?

OSCAR NIGHT

So what's in store for Oscar De La Hoya? Well, it seems that Shane Mosley may have priced himself out of a rematch and 'the Golden Boy' and Arum are moving on.

"I don't know about Shane," said Arum. "I don't know if he's really serious, if he wants it. He talks about respect. But Oscar now, looks like he's going in a different direction. But Mosley is out of the picture at least for 2003."

Mosley, who was offered $4 million for a De La Hoya rematch, is insisting on a purse of around $7-8 million despite being on a two fight losing streak. He may have negotiated his way out of the rematch, according to Arum.

"We met with his advisor, we thought we had a deal, now they want more, people are interfering," Arum said. "I love Shane, he's a nice guy, let him go and do his thing. I think we're looking at Vernon Forrest, maybe a Vargas

rematch and in the meanwhile, Oscar may fight more often than not next year because we have some great offers from Japan and Germany and we'll work out the arrangements with HBO."

So while Oscar may become a traveling man, Mosley might be spinning his wheels.

HANDY MAN

Mayweather mentioned that he was hurt his hands again around the fifth or sixth round of his bout against Castillo. Make no doubt about it, Mayweather has a brittle set of mitts. His father, who was in attendance, has a solution to what ails his sons hands.

"I had problems with my hands, my brother Jeff had problems with his hands, Roger had problems with his hands, now it's lil' Floyd," explained Floyd Sr. at the post-fight press conference. "He needs a good hand-wrapper, that's what he needs. De La Hoya didn't have no problems with his hands and he had just got surgery on his hand and he threw his punches with authority. I asked him if his hand hurt and he said, 'My hand feels great'. Because Joe Chavez is the best hand-wrapper in the world and [Floyd] really needs a guy like that."

Currently, the younger Mayweather has the highly respected Raphael Garcia to wrap his hands. It's doubtful that anything short of not fighting at all, will do anything to keep Mayweathers hands from hurting.

POISONED

Junior Jones took a bad beating this past Friday night on the abortion that was the pay-per-view telecast featuring Christy Martin and Mia St. John from the cavernous and cold Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. OK, now, where are all his new-found friends and advisors telling me that he still 'had his championship form' and that he wasn't a shot fighter? I'm sure they had only his best interests in mind -- ahem.

To add insult to injury, one person who worked the fight told me that Jones along with some other fighters, namely Martin, did not get paid as the promoter snuck out the backdoor during the main event.

BIG UPSET

The biggest upset of the night had to be the fact that St. John actually went the distance with 'the Coal Miners Daughter'. That in itself is a huge victory for St. John and a stunning development to those in the know.

I said to a Top Rank staffer who had worked extensively with St. John in the past that maybe Martin was past her prime and had aged.

"Yeah, but come on, it's still Mia," said my bewildered source. Yeah, I can't argue with that.

HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN

Just several months ago Kirk Johnson was at the Mandalay Bay fighting John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title -- fresh off of his multi-million dollar signing bonus.

After his abysmal display, in which he got DQ'd against Ruiz, he was the 'walkout bout' this past Saturday night after Klitschko disposed of McCline.

I heard he stopped journeyman Jeremy Bates in two rounds, but I'm not sure, since like everyone else I walked out before the 'walkout bout'.