The inaugural Yahoo! Sports boxing pound-for-pound top 10 poll was released last week and, predictably, generated volumes of response.

So, too, did my offer to forward questions to boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. (who, I might add, was chosen No.1 pound-for-pound by our distinguished panel). Floyd has answered some of your questions in a separate column.

Given the predominance of Mayweather questions in the last two mailbags and the presence of a mailbag done this week by the champ himself, I've limited the Mayweather questions in this column to just a few.

This is quickly becoming my favorite column of the week because I love the diversity of opinion I'm hearing.

The mailbag, which is open to questions and/or comments on both boxing and mixed martial arts, appears each Tuesday. Click on the link at the bottom of any of my columns to submit your thoughts.

Letters with a first and a last name as well as a city and state or city and country will have the best chance of appearing.

Please note

Promoter Don King will announce at a Florida news conference Monday that former middleweight champion Felix Trinidad will end a 2½-year retirement to meet former pound-for-pound champion Roy Jones Jr.

Details of when and where the fight will be held remain unclear.

Trinidad and Jones briefly had considered a fight in 2000, when Jones held a light heavyweight title and recognition as the best fighter in the sport.

Trinidad was moving up from welterweight to super welterweight at the time and was looking to knock off a big name after defeating Oscar De La Hoya in 1999 in a battle of then unbeaten welterweight title-holders.

Trinidad has been one of the generation's most popular fighters, but he hasn't competed since he was shut out by Winky Wright on May 14, 2005. Wright won every round in that one-sided fight, prompting Trinidad to announce his second retirement.

Trinidad is 42-2 with 35 knockouts. His only other loss came on Sept. 29, 2001, to Bernard Hopkins for the undisputed

LAS VEGAS – Don King frequently refers derisively to Bob Arum, his rival of almost four decades, as "Lonesome Bob." He once called Arum a rat fink for testifying for the government in a bribery trial.

"He's going to try to make himself a hero for being a rat fink," King said in 2000 after Arum admitted during a federal trial that he paid the IBF president a bribe in order to gain a more favorable rating for one of his fighters. "You can't be no hero being a rat fink. You know how you be the hero? Don't participate in rat fink-ism."

The enmity between the Hall of Fame boxing promoters was very real.

But on Friday during a seminar at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, Arum was no "Lonesome Bob" when he came under attack from Floyd Mayweather Jr.

King, of all people, came roaring to his defense.

After the raucous 90-minute seminar in a conference room at Bally's in which the topic ostensibly was whether boxing is dead, King didn't find it odd that it was he, of all

The inaugural Yahoo! Sports boxing pound-for-pound top 10 poll is out, with no surprises at the top.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. was a near-unanimous choice of the elite 10-member panel, getting nine first place votes to top the list.

Manny Pacquiao, who was the 2006 Fighter of the Year, was a clear second choice.

Pacquiao got the first-place vote that didn't go to Mayweather, was second on eight ballots and third on another.

Mayweather and Pacquiao are the only fighters who were named on all 10 ballots.

The question is how much the poll will change by the end of the year, because so many fighters who are on the list or who narrowly missed making it are scheduled to meet.

Mayweather, for example, will take on unbeaten Brit Ricky Hatton on Dec. 8. Hatton didn't make the top 10, but he came in 12th.

WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, who was voted sixth, will meet No. 10 Shane Mosley in November. Pacquiao will face Marco Antonio Barrera, who came in 14th in the voting.

The poll members who

Peace, Joe Stevenson says, is a beautiful thing.

And though the UFC lightweight contender says bluntly that he has "huge, big problems" in his life, he acts as if he doesn't have a care.

He and his wife, Maia, don't sweat even the most significant ordeals they may face. He's been through so many monumental issues in his life, he says the ordinary day-to-day problems that plague any young couple don't even register.

An old Christian prayer says, "God grant me the courage to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things that I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

At 25, Joe Stevenson says he definitely has the wisdom to know the difference.

"Man, I've been through some things in my life that nobody should have to go through," he says softly. "Tough things. Real problems. This stuff now, hey, it's a piece of cake. I'm at peace."

He's preparing to fight Kurt Pellegrino on Aug. 25 at UFC 74 in Las Vegas. UFC president Dana White concedes that Stevenson may get

Erik Morales came to the end of the line in a career that will land him in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in five years.

Israel Vazquez stopped Rafael Marquez in a legitimate Fight of the Year candidate. Evander Holyfield is going to get a crack at the WBO heavyweight title. Jermain Taylor and Kelly Pavlik officially announced their middleweight title fight for Sept. 29. Paulo Filho said hello to the American MMA crowd with a dominating win over Joe Doerksen at WEC 29 on Sunday.

And you guys want to talk about … Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Again.

For the second week in a row, the inbox was overflowing with opinions about the cocky, talented and oh-so-controversial welterweight champion.

Many of you love him. Even more, it seems, dislike him. But nearly everyone, it seems, has an opinion.

So consider this mailbag the Mayweather Special, Vol. 2, though we'll get to a few other topics.

Remember, the mailbag appears each Tuesday. You can e-mail me by clicking the link at the bottom of any

LAS VEGAS – Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Rampage Jackson and Urijah Faber, four of the most talented fighters in mixed martial arts, gathered to watch the fights at WEC 29 at the Hard Rock Hotel on Sunday.

And what they saw was perhaps a man who surpassed all of them in natural ability and technical proficiency.

Undefeated Paulo Filho, the WEC's new middleweight champion, not only disposed of Canadian Joe Doerksen in the first round to claim the vacant belt, he may have established a new standard of excellence for 185-pounders.

Perhaps the most accomplished jiu-jitsu expert among MMA fighters, Filho used his hands to stop the veteran Doerksen at 4:07 of the first round.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, who was ringside doing color commentary on the cable broadcast on Versus, had no doubt who would win a matchup between Filho and UFC champion Anderson Silva.

"I don't think Silva would be able to knock out Paulo, because he's built like a truck and looks like a mini-Mike

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Erik Morales had meant so much to Top Rank during his boxing career that the company's president, Todd duBoef, couldn't stand to stay inside Allstate Arena on Saturday to watch Morales try to win the WBC lightweight title from David Diaz.

With all his heart, duBoef wanted to see Morales hoist a title belt one final time. Morales had won world championships at 122, 126 and 130 pounds and was trying to become the first Mexican-born fighter to capture a belt in four weight divisions.

Boxing, though, isn't a sport for storybook endings and, as duBoef feared, there wasn't one for Morales or for his legion of fans.

Diaz won a unanimous decision to retain his belt in what Morales said was the final bout of his illustrious career. The judges had it 115-113, 115-112 and 114-113 for Diaz. Yahoo! Sports had it 116-112 for Diaz.

"You won't see me again," a placid Morales said after the bout. "Too many shots to the head."

Morales was the rare fighter who never had an off night in