You can follow Kevin Iole on Twitter at @KevinI Short shots about the world of professional boxing:

As Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic grinds along at a glacial pace, nine months into it and still stuck in the round robin phase, there are now calls by some for either a super lightweight tournament or a super welterweight tournament.

To that, I say "Arrrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!"

Now, I wouldn't mind seeing a quick, three-night, two-fight tournament that included, say, Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander, Marcos Maidana and Amir Khan to determine the top 140-pounder in the world.

That, however, isn't how the tournaments are often run. And boxing fans certainly aren't flocking to the Super Six.

The Andre Ward-Allan Green fight on June 19 is a perfect example. Ward was coming off a sensational victory over Mikkel Kessler and was facing another American in the trash-talking Green.

Showtime averaged just 437,000 viewers during the Ward-Green fight, a pitifully low number and a figure

You can follow Kevin Iole on Twitter at @KevinI

There is a lot to talk in mixed martial arts, with the legendary Fedor Emelianenko coming off a shocking submission loss to Fabricio Werdum at Strikeforce on Saturday and Brock Lesnar getting ready to defend his heavyweight title against interim champion Shane Carwin this coming Saturday in the main event of UFC 116. So, let's get to your questions and comments in this week's edition of the MMA mailbag.

Now do you agree with us that Fedor Emelianenko has slightly been overrated lately? As I've said before, he was an amazing PRIDE fighter, but he hasn't done squat in three years. Hopefully, this opens people's eyes that he isn't a god. I still want him to go to the UFC for no reason other than to see some good matchups. Hopefully, this loss will help that become a reality. If he would have won this and then beaten Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce heavyweight title, he would have had too much bargaining power with

You can follow Kevin Iole on Twitter at @KevinI

LAS VEGAS – He overpowered Randy Couture. He overwhelmed Frank Mir. He holds the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight championship and stands as the biggest draw in the sport.

And as hard as it is to fathom that Brock Lesnar can actually get better, both as a fighter and as a gate attraction, it's likely true. To this point in his career, Lesnar has been an unpolished fighter, relying on his freakish power and surprising athleticism to carry him.

When he actually learns how to fight, when he understands the nuances of the game and eliminates the fundamental mistakes he occasionally still makes, he'll be shockingly good.

Lesnar will get better because he's not satisfied with just being good. He brought Couture into his Minnesota training camp to help him prepare for Carwin. Lesnar didn't bring in Couture to give him platitudes, though.

He brought Couture in to find problems and, hopefully, to fix them.

"He taught me a lot of

You can follow Kevin Iole on Twitter at @KevinI

The intricacies of the New York state budget process are best left to Gov. David A. Paterson, the state legislature and the voters. Whether deep cuts in the state education system are warranted is a question only New Yorkers and their elected representatives can answer.

There is one part of the budget process, however, that is of great interest to mixed martial arts fans not only in New York, but throughout the United States and, indeed, around the world.

New York is the only state in which mixed martial arts is illegal. Paterson has included a provision in his 2010-11 budget – which may be voted upon Monday – that would allow the New York State Athletic Commission to regulate MMA.

That MMA isn't legal in New York in 2010 is beyond absurd. A small but vocal minority in the state have done yeoman's work spreading misinformation about the sport and keeping its legalization and sanctioning from a vote before the full legislature.

More high

You can follow Kevin Iole on Twitter at @KevinI

Even for a man who has accomplished more in his 31 years than the average person does in a lifetime, this is extraordinary, awe-inspiring.

This means more than winning world championships in seven weight divisions or being named Fighter of the Year three times. It dwarfs being chosen as the Fighter of the Decade and exceeds being selected as one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine.

Manny Pacquiao was inaugurated as a congressman on Monday (Sunday in the U.S.) in his native Philippines in a moment that has far more significance to the world and to his people than anything he's previously done.

To this point in his young life, he's largely been an entertainer. He's a movie star and a recording artist and, of course, one of the greatest boxers of all-time.

He's also an extraordinarily generous man, giving away thousands of dollars to feed the needy and provide shelter for the homeless. His contributions help teach the

You can follow Kevin Iole on Twitter at @KevinI

It takes an extraordinary amount of courage to climb between the ropes, step into a boxing ring and prepare to fight another man.

But it's nothing compared to the courage it takes to march in a civil rights protest knowing that armed militia are there to prevent it.

Jackie Duddy was 17 and made such a march for what he believed was right on a sunny Sunday winter afternoon in 1972. It wound up costing him his life, as the unarmed boy was shot by British soldiers in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, as he was running away.

Earlier this month, the British government concluded a 12-year investigation into the massacre and determined that the murders of the 14 unarmed civilians on what became known as "Bloody Sunday" were unjustified and that the protesters posed no threat to the soldiers.

Nearly 40 years later, middleweight boxer John Duddy, named after the uncle he never knew, will step into the ring in the most important match of his career on

You can follow Kevin Iole on Twitter at @KevinI

Floyd Mayweather Jr. retained his top spot in the Yahoo! Sports boxing rankings for June, though the margin over runner-up Manny Pacquiao tightened.

For the first time in the nearly three-year history of the poll, all members of the panel submitted votes. In May, when Mayweather took over the top spot from Pacquiao after routing Shane Mosley, 33 members of the 38 on the panel submitted ballots.

Two writers were dropped after May's balloting due to a consistent failure to participate. In their place, four voters were added, bringing the total to 40: Nick Giongco of the Manila Bulletin, Chino Trinidad of GMA Television in the Philippines, Gareth A. Davies of the London Telegraph and Tris Dixon, editor of Boxing News in London.

Pacquiao fans cried bias when their man dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the poll. That prompted me to this month keep track of where the votes were coming from for each guy.

Mayweather received 22 of the 40 first-place

You can follow Kevin Iole on Twitter at @KevinI

For a guy who rarely shows any emotion, Fedor Emelianenko sure has a way of sparking emotions in others.

Frankly, it's getting sickening, from both sides.

Emelianenko will fight Fabricio Werdum on Saturday on a Showtime-televised card at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., in the main event of a Strikeforce show.

It's getting beyond wearisome listening to Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White repeatedly bash Emelianenko and demean his skills. White speaks as if Emelianenko were a reject from a reality show and not a guy who hasn't lost in nearly a decade and who holds wins over former UFC heavyweight champions Kevin Randleman, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Coleman, Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski.

Much of White's attitude has been colored by his inability to sign Emelianenko to a contract. White gets particularly infuriated when media refer to the solemn Russian as the best fighter in the world rather than his own,