It's a thankful return to boxing after a week free of televised bouts (at least in my area), and The Corner is glad of it. No more toiling through the stultifying opening-season horror of baseball on weekends, with just 155 games left until the pennant race is concluded... yes siree, the pomp and flash is back in the form of Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto.

Mayweather's tough two-bout series last year with Jose Luis Castillo showed the fickle nature of fandom. After his first decision win, which wasthisclose, Mayweather was knocked for a performance many expected to be dominant. The rematch wasn't much different, with a more focused Floyd, utilizing healthier hands and defensive skills to take another decision.

Listen, people can say what they want about Mayweather, but the truth of it is, there's no such thing as an easy fight against a rugged Mexican-style guy like Castillo, who entered the ring with nearly a 10-pound weight advantage, and has a solid chin. Style-wise, Mayweather is still head and shoulders above just about everyone in the division. So yeah, he had some tough fights, and he won... is he supposed to dominate and destroy everyone? Wouldn't we just diagnose him with Roy Jones, Jr. disease, by then wondering why he never seemed to fight anybody that could test him?

The truth of it is, potential foes in Leo Dorin, Paul Spadafora, or whomever aren't likely to beat him at lightweight. The real danger lies at 140, from Tszyu on top to several notches down, should Mayweather eventually settle there. His hands, always a wild card, betray him at the most inopportune times, but when you're looking for them to go bad and fail him, finally leaving him in danger that he cannot dance his way through ‹ thinking here of Diego Corrales, Jesus Chavez, and the Castillo rematch ‹ he always comes up big. The reason fate didn't give Mayweather solid hands so he could punch with impunity? Because it'd probably be too damn easy, then.

Even in a one-sided bout, he's fun to watch, especially his feet. Just look at his feet sometime, as they flit him in and out of range, always a beat ahead, moving to a cadence only he seems to hear.

Victoriano Sosa is no slouch, and dropped Paul Spadafora twice in losing a decision to the IBF beltholder, and this is reason enough for Mayweather to possibly make a statement of power and maybe risk himself in getting one to give two, or three, four or more. One thing easily overlooked about Mayweather is that he's got a helluva good chin ‹ you can rewind entire 12-round fights without seeing him get nailed flush, even against top guys like Corrales. Like Jones, he just doesn't have to prove it too often.

The only type of guy at lightweight to give Mayweather a problem is Castillo... and possibly Mayweather himself, should he get bored, distracted, or come into the ring with the bum hands cursing him, making him play a limited-engagements points game, as he did against Carlos "Famoso" Hernandez. Until then, nobody at lightweight beats him. He may have a tough fight now and then -- and it seems exclusively against the low-built, charging ultra-rugged types -- but until he moves up to 140, he's going to stay unbeaten.

As for fighting Oscar De La Hoya? Who knows? It's hard to see it happening from a feasibility standpoint, as Mayweather would be jumping up three divisions to do it. Can he even be a ranked 154-pound opponent for Oscar (no doubt the WBC might find a way, but would the WBA?). It would seem a stupid idea to even take a warmup bout against anyone that big, wouldn't it, which makes the fight against Oscar that much more imposing, don't you think?

Cotto's one-sided decision win over John Brown was clearly tempered by his intention on getting the rounds, pacing himself so as not to gas out in unknown waters. It seemed he could step up the attack at any time, but was simply a little unsure of himself against a tough veteran like Brown. Cotto's offensive firepower returned, however, with a very impressive stoppage of Cesar Bazan, the type of guy that gives virtually everyone (including Stevie Johnston, twice) a tough fight. Cotto against Joel Perez is another step up ‹ he will be on the big stage now, and another big win could prove invaluable in the race among fellow prospects Muhammad Abdullaev, Juan Diaz, and Ricky Hatton.