BIGGEST WINNER

Guillermo Rigondeaux: The two-time Olympic champion from Cuba wasn’t given much of a chance to show what he can do against a brave, but incompetent opponent -- Juan Noriega -- in his professional debut Saturday in Miami on ESPN2. But it doesn’t matter. His story generated a lot valuable hype and he got the job done with almost no resistance, successfully taking the first step in what mostly likely will be a lucrative pro career. And those who seem to want to minimize his potential based on that horrible mismatch are jumping the gun in monumental fashion. Just wait. Let’s see what he looks like after a fight or two against decent opponents. I think we’ll all be impressed in the end.


BIGGEST LOSER

Florida State Athletic Commission: The Florida regulators are on a roll. First, they allow ancient Hector Camacho to fight in the state even though he can barely defend himself. Then, on Saturday, they fed to Cuban prospect Guillermo Rigondeaux a raw opponent so frightened he couldn’t even put a fight. Juan Noriega actually closed his eyes in anticipation of punches landing on his head. To put it simply: It was irresponsible to pit Noriega against a fighter of Rigondeaux’s abilty and vast amateur experience. No one is saying Rigondeaux should have faced a polished veteran in his professional debut. He SHOULD have faced a fighter with the ability to fight back. Way to go Florida.


BIGGEST WINNER II

Dmitry Salita: The handlers of the WBA’s No. 1 junior welterweight contender were nervous about Salita taking a tune-up fight with a title shot against the winner of Andreas Kotelnik-Amir Khan around the corner. However, Salita, who hadn’t seen action in more than six months, decided he needed to fight and it paid off. He easily outpointed a bigger, but overmatched Raul Munoz, getting stronger and more dominating at the fight went on. Now, if things go according to plan, he’ll get his first opportunity to fight for a world title late this year and a chance to prove that he’s more than just an overhyped personality with a good story.


BEST PUNCH

Toshiaki Nishioka: The WBC 122-pound titleholder from Japan, making his second defense, put Jhonny Gonzalez flat on his back with a devastating straight left to the jaw in third round of their fight Saturday in Monterrey, Mexico. The Mexican lay motionless with his hands up and his head under the bottom rope before staggering to feet before the count of 10. However, he was in no condition to continue and the fight was stopped. Nishioka has won 10 consecutive fights since he was stopped in the fourth meeting of his disappointing four-fight series with Veeraphol Sahaprom. Nishioka is 0-2-2 against the Thai fighter.

BIGGEST CONTRADICTION

Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Junior says repeatedly that he’s isn’t in boxing “for bragging rights,” meaning he’s in it for the money. OK, that’s reasonable. However, he then gets upset when someone questions the opponents he chooses to face, which clearly is made based on the highest reward for the lowest risk. The most-appropriate opponents for him probably are Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto and Paul Williams, who are his size or a little bigger. Instead, he’s fighting little Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18 and then most likely will face another naturally smaller man, Manny Pacquiao, if he wins. So which is it, Junior: Do you want to fight the best? Or do you just want to make as much money as possible? If it’s the latter, fine. Just don’t bite our heads off when we call you on it.


BEST SECOND FIDDLE

Rafael Marquez: Imagine you’ve engaged in one of the most-memorable trilogies in boxing history (against Israel Vasquez) and you’ve proven over a long career that you’re a Hall of Fame talent yet you’re not the best fighter in your own family. That’s Rafael Marquez’s lot. Juan Manuel Marquez, Rafael’s elder brother by 19 months, is peaking at 35 years old and generally is considered the better of the two. And Juan Manuel would claim legend status in Mexico if he were able to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. on July 18 in Las Vegas. Fortunately, the brothers are close and supportive yet feed off the other’s success. Has there ever been a more-successful brother combination in history? Rafael Marquez stopped Jose Francisco Mendoza on Saturday in Mexico.


BEST FATHER AND SON

Oliver and Elijah McCall: The elder McCall, a one-time heavyweight titleholder who is now 44, proved that he still has power by stopping Australian rugby player-turned-boxer in the second round Friday in Las Vegas. Earlier, his son, 21-year-old Elijah, stopped Chad Davis in the first round. Oliver McCall is best known for knocking out Lennox Lewis to win the title in 1994 and then crying in the rematch, which he lost by knockout. Elijah McCall is 3-0-1, with three knockouts. He drew with an inexperienced 300-pounder named Alvaro Morales in March, raising questions about the young man’s ability. He reportedly put Davis down twice with body shots.

WORST PAY-PER-VIEW MATCHUP

Roy Jones Jr. vs. Jeff Lacy: (Shaking my head.) Jones is a 40-year-old shell of a once-great fighter who should’ve retired in 2005. Lacy was once an over-hyped slugger who was exposed as a mirage when he faced top-level competition. Assuming final details are worked out, they fight on Aug. 22 in New Orleans … on pay per view? Why would anyone pay to see this? Yes, they both have recognizable names but neither is much of a fighter at this stage of the game. We don’t want to see names fighting another; we want to see fighters fighting one another. (Shaking my head again.)


BEST QUOTE

Shane Mosley: “Floyd’s delusional. He talks about his pay-per-view numbers but everyone knows that it was Ricky (Hatton) and Oscar (De La Hoya) who brought in the fans and sold those pay-per-view buys. Before he fought De La Hoya his numbers were so disappointing HBO didn’t want him to fight on pay-per-view anymore. The fights with Oscar and Ricky, and the 24/7’s he did on HBO before those fights, got his name out there but I don’t think it made him more popular with boxing fans. I don’t think he’ll ever be as popular as he thinks he is until he really fights the best.”


Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com