Andre Ward (L) won the WBC super middleweight belt in 2011 by beating Carl Froch (Getty)

But Ward's actions won't amount to much, because there are few boxers who are willing to take the same stance.

Despite the fact that boxing's major sanctioning bodies routinely cheat, manipulate the rankings, strip fighters of titles they won in the ring, coerce them into giving up their fight-worn equipment and almost daily break their own rules, boxers are desperate to have them.

Few boxers are willing to take a stand like Ward did and tell these morally and ethically bankrupt grounds to get lost. It's going to take fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Wladimir Klitschko, Canelo Alvarez, Juan Manuel Marquez and other high-profile boxers to follow Ward's lead for his action to have any kind of an impact.

Rest assured, though, that's not going to happen in our lifetime.

Andre Ward wears his WBC belt (Getty)Ward won his WBC title by defeating Carl Froch in

LAS VEGAS – T.J. Grant chuckles at the thought that he may someday become known as the most famous resident of his hometown.

Maybe in some other sleepy ocean-side town of 25,000, a statue of him would be erected in the town square and he'd be celebrated throughout the years for his athletic feats.

T.J. Grant, left, defeated Evan Dunham last September at UFC 152. (Getty Images)But Grant is from Canada and was born and still lives in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. That pretty much guarantees that, no matter what he's able to accomplish in the UFC, his ceiling is pretty much becoming the town's second-most famous resident.

Cole Harbour, you see, is the birthplace of Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, the NHL's greatest player. And while a popular championship fighter may become more widely known worldwide than a hockey player, it's a massively different story in Canada.

"You know what? Anywhere else in the world, maybe I'd have a shot," he says. "But this is hockey country. This is Canada. Not much chance of [ever surpassing Crosby]. But maybe if things go

Shane Mosley (R) is 1-3-1 in his last five fights, but has no plans to retire (AP)One of the saddest sights in professional sports is trying to watch a one-time great who is well past his or her prime still trying to compete.

Willie Mays played long past his prime (AP file photo)Willie Mays is, arguably, the greatest all-around player in Major League Baseball history, but if you only saw him playing for the New York Mets in the 1973 World Series, you'd have a hard time believing that.

Similarly, Johnny Unitas is one of the best quarterbacks to have ever lived, but definitely not to those who only saw him play for the San Diego Chargers.

There have been countless boxers in similar situations and fans and media routinely plead with them to retire. Most recently, Roy Jones Jr. and Evander Holyfield have fallen in that situation, fighting on long since their skills have left them.

Shane Mosley, the one-time lightweight, welterweight and super welterweight champion who is one of the best fighters of the last 20 years or so, is another of them.

Shane Mosley's Twitter accountMosley defeated Pablo Cesar Cano by a unanimous decision on Saturday in Mexico,

Manny Pacquiao will look to break a two-fight losing streak when he returns to the ring on Nov. 24 (Nov. 23 in the U.S.) at The Venetian in Macau, China, to fight Brandon Rios in a 12-round welterweight bout, Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz exclusively told Yahoo! Sports on Monday. 

Manny Pacquiao throws a right at Juan Manuel Marquez. (Getty)The bout will be distributed on HBO pay-per-view in the U.S. Significantly, though, Koncz said it is going to be sold online in China in something of a test run for the American equivalent of $5 or $6. 

Pacquiao had also been considering Mike Alvarado, but Koncz said the choice to go with Rios was made because of the style matchup. Rios is a straight-ahead fighter who loves to get into a slugfest and it should make for a sensational television bout.

"Rios isn't going to get in there and dance around and run around," Koncz said. "He's going to come to fight. He'll move straight forward and try to brawl with Manny, and that's the kind of fight that will be very entertaining for the fans. Anyone who knows these

LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather showed yet again why he is, conclusively, the greatest fighter of his generation.

He brilliantly outboxed Robert Guerrero on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden, cruising to a wide unanimous decision in their WBC welterweight title fight that probably would have been a stoppage had he not injured his right hand in the middle of the fight.

Mayweather is far beyond being judged against his peers, but the lack of depth and quality among them keeps him from seriously being regarded as one of the 10 best fighters ever.

[Related: Fans boo Floyd Mayweather's 'boring' style]

Sugar Ray Robinson is, without question, the greatest fighter who ever lived. He was 128-1-2 before he suffered his second defeat, and he beat enough Hall of Famers to fill a football team. Floyd Mayweather avoids a Robert Guerrero punch on Saturday. (USA Today)

The thing that Robinson, and more recent superstars such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, had over Mayweather was elite opposition.

"Let me tell you this right here about the

LAS VEGAS – The countdown to the end of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s legendary career began on Saturday with a brilliant performance in a victory over Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand Garden.
Mayweather rolled his record to 44-0 and kept alive a dream to end his career with a perfect mark.

He signed a six-fight, 30-month contract with Showtime in February –  likely his final contract – and he started it off on the right foot.

Floyd Mayweather punches Robert Guerrero their WBC welterweight title fight. (USA Today)

He won a unanimous decision, with all three judges seeing it 117-111, to keep his WBC welterweight title.

Though Guerrero's trainer and father Ruben Guerrero shouted at the conclusion, "He ran like a chicken, baby," it was a masterful boxing performance by Mayweather.

Guerrero tried to pressure Mayweather, but Mayweather had none of it. Guerrero had some success pinning Mayweather in the corner in the first two rounds, but after that, Mayweather used his lateral movement and a laser accurate right hand to pummel Guerrero.

He landed more than 60 percent of his

LAS VEGAS – It's impossible to improve upon perfect, but when the subject is Floyd Mayweather Jr., the normal rules don't apply.

An outsider might say the 36-year-old boxer lives a perfect life. He's among the greatest ever to have competed in his sport. He owns a fleet of luxury cars, a massive and stylish home in a tony, golf-course community, wears hand-tailored custom suits and accentuates his wardrobe with more diamonds than Elizabeth Taylor could dream of having.

He employs a gaggle of assistants to take care of his every need, real or imagined. If he wants to go to the movies, he rents out the entire theater. He stays in the finest hotels and flies on a sleek private jet. Women throw themselves at him; men dream of being him.

It's some people's idea of a perfect life. In life, as in sport, however, perfection is very elusive.

And so, even with a 43-0 record, even with a spot among boxing's all-time greats long ago assured, even with every material thing he might want at his

(Warning: Video contains strong language so viewer discretion is advised.)

LAS VEGAS – It's hard to pinpoint when it first happened, perhaps late in 2009 or early in 2010. Robert Guerrero was an anonymous lightweight fighting even more anonymous opponents, yet, after nearly after bout, in almost every public appearance, his message was the same:

I want to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. next.

Guerrero had the audacity to call out the best fighter in the world even though said fighter was competing several weight divisions above him. 

Few took Guerrero seriously and reporters struggled to change the topic to something more grounded when he'd bring up his desire to fight Mayweather. There was no point, the logic went, of talking and writing about a fight that was almost certainly never going to happen.

Guerrero and his team were nothing if not determined, though, and they never gave up hope. In late 2011, Guerrero's publicist solicited reporters' opinions about a potential Mayweather-Guerrero