Matt Brown lets out a big sigh. He's been through this before and, frankly, he'd rather be talking about pretty much anything else. Yet dutifully – and clinically – Brown recounts the story of a period of his life he'd much rather forget.

Matt Brown will fight Mike Swick in a UFC welterweight match in Seattle. (Getty Images)He's in the UFC now, one of the best fighters in the world. He faces Mike Swick on Saturday in a welterweight match on the main card of UFC on Fox 5 at the Key Arena in Seattle, a bout the cognoscenti awaits with great interest.

Swick and Brown are each aggressive stand-up fighters and it's no coincidence their bout will open the Fox portion of the broadcast. UFC president Dana White wants to set the tone for what will come and there's little better way than relying on two guys who almost always deliver.

After delivering a series of entertaining performances, this might be the time Brown finally wins one of the UFC's fight-night bonuses. After each card, White chooses a Fight of the Night, a Knockout of the Night and a Submission of the

The late Angelo Dundee (L) and Muhammad Ali in January at an Ali birthday celebration (AP)Two pair of Muhammad Ali fight-worn boxing gloves, one of which he wore in a 1964 fight against Sonny Liston and the other in a 1971 loss to Joe Frazier, went for a combined $771,696 in an auction that closed on Friday.

The estate of Angelo Dundee, the legendary ex-heavyweight champion's trainer, sold the gloves and other memorabilia. Part of the proceeds of the memorabilia sale, which went for more than $1.3 million, will benefit the Muhammad Ali Foundation. Another portion will go for the care of Dundee's daughter, Terri, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis.

Cassius Clay celebrates a 1964 win over Sonny Liston (AP file)The two most popular items in the sale, handled by SCP Auctions, were the gloves. Ali, fighting for the heavyweight title against Liston under his birth name Cassius Clay, wore a pair of Frager gloves to stop Liston after seven rounds in Miami.

He wore Everlast gloves in his March 8, 1971, match in New York's Madison Square Garden against Frazier, which remains the most significant bout in boxing history. Frazier won that bout,

Through all of his many epic battles, throughout his 12 years as a pro, Miguel Cotto never lost sight of what was most important to him in professional boxing:

Miguel Cotto poses during the weigh-in for his fight against Austin Trout. (Getty Images)Getting paid.

It's a common ritual for the media to ask a star boxer who he wants to fight in upcoming bouts. And for that, Cotto has a stock answer, noting he'll take the fight that pays him the most.

It's the appropriate answer, given the risk every boxer takes when he or she climbs between the ropes. It's particularly appropriate for Cotto, a family man and father of four, whose aggressive, offensively oriented style leads to a lot of abuse.

Cotto fights little-known WBA super welterweight champion Austin Trout Saturday in New York on Showtime at Madison Square Garden. A win will set him up for a mega-fight in the first half of 2013, either a rematch against Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao or a showdown with Canelo Alvarez.

[Related: Austin Trout gets shot at big time]

The Trout fight, though, is risky

Austin Trout had plenty of work in New York at a news conference in October to announce a title defense against Miguel Cotto.

Austin Trout has largely been out of the spotlight during his career. (AP)There were interviews to do and promotional spots to film and training sessions to complete. But before he left New York to head home to Las Cruces, N.M., for the start of the intensive portion of his training camp, he had one task he was determined to complete.

A 2004 U.S. Olympic alternate and the WBA super welterweight champion, Trout wanted to make certain he secured Cotto's autograph before he got back onto the plane.

That task done, Trout was able to attend to the many tasks before him as he prepared for his bout Saturday at Madison Square Garden against the Puerto Rican superstar.

A little hero worship never hurt anybody, not even a charismatic, talented, world champion fighter.

Trout plans on making the long flight home from New York on Sunday, the day after the fight, with his autograph and his black title belt.

[Related: Miguel Cotto

Rory MacDonald sat on a stage in a nightclub in Montreal, dressed to the nines. The 23-year-old UFC star was answering questions from fans about his Dec. 8 fight in Seattle with the legendary ex-lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn.

B.J. Penn says he has rediscovered his love for fighting. (AP)MacDonald, who is one of the fastest-rising stars in the sport, never expected to stand opposite Penn in a cage.

Like most of the rest of the world, MacDonald thought he'd seen the last of Penn as an active fighter on Oct. 29, 2011, when Penn was blown out by Nick Diaz in the main event of UFC 137.

Penn said after the fight that he needed a long vacation, and every indication was that he had retired.

MacDonald recounted that when he got the call offering the fight with Penn, he was shocked. He, like most mixed martial arts fans and observers, believed that Penn was done and that the countdown to his selection for the UFC Hall of Fame had begun.

"I was like, 'Really?' " MacDonald said of his reaction when told Penn wanted to fight

Miguel Cotto is one of the great boxers of his generation, though he's not remotely in the class of one-time opponents Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

Miguel Cotto had his moments against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their 2012 bout, but ultimately lost. (AP)When it comes to self promotion, Cotto's even farther behind. And in 21st-century boxing, that's not a good thing. For a fight to be a success, it requires an extraordinary commitment of time and cooperation from the star.

Cotto is the star of Saturday night's fight against Austin Trout at Madison Square Garden, yet you wouldn't know it, if you knew the fight was happening at all.

Thanks to brilliant work by Top Rank, Cotto became a mega-star in New York. His bouts attracted massive numbers of the city's passionate Puerto Rican fight fans who roared their approval of his every move. His bouts in the Garden with Antonio Margarito, Paulie Malignaggi, Zab Judah and Shane Mosley were massive events.

His fight with Trout, which will be televised on Showtime, is no such thing, and that has nothing to do with Trout and

A day in boxing that began with a spine-tingling reception in England for Ricky Hatton ended in a Los Angeles suburb with a spine-tingling 12-round welterweight battle between Robert Guerrero and Andre Berto.

Robert Guerrero knocks down Andre Berto in the second round. (AP)

Buoyed by one of the great chins in boxing and a fearlessness that defies description, Guerrero out-toughed Berto for a unanimous decision Saturday at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif.

Guerrero knocked Berto down once in each of the first two rounds and pulled out a gnarly, nasty, gritty victory. All three judges had it 116-110, or eight rounds to four, in favor of Guerrero.

It wasn't so much that Guerrero beat Berto that was the shocker, though. Rather, it was the manner of the win. For most of the bout, it was like a street fight as they took turns teeing off on each other while standing inches apart.

Berto made himself look bad when he whined about referee Lou Moret, who had an extremely bad night but whose mistakes definitely did not cost Berto

The emergence of several quality young boxers has made the bottom half of the Yahoo! Sports boxing rankings as competitive as they have been since their 2007 inception.

The October Top 10 remained the same except for Juan Manuel Marquez changing places with Nonito Donaire.

Adrien Broner's latest win impressed many voters. (Getty)

The interesting battle, though, was for 10th, which Carl Froch has held since May. Froch, the IBF super middleweight champion, stopped Yusef Mack in the third round of a dominant performance on Nov. 17, doing his part to keep his ranking.

But lightweight Adrien Broner and super bantamweight Abner Mares are closing the gap fast. Each had extraordinarily impressive wins – Broner stopped Antonio DeMarco in the eighth to win the WBC lightweight title, while Mares decisioned Anselmo Moreno to retain his belt – and suddenly are worthy of serious consideration for the Top 10.

I've been voting for Froch in 10th, but changed my opinion in light of Mares' solid win over Moreno, a highly skilled and vastly