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

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Amid the many moments of triumph, the celebrations of victories hard won, the enduring image of Erik Morales is of him on his hands in knees in a neutral corner, looking toward his father and shaking his head no.

Erik Morales, three-division world champion, future Hall of Famer, had enough sense last Nov. 18 to know he'd had enough.

He took the 10-count against Manny Pacquiao in that fight on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas because he knew fighting on was futile.

Morales has been around for 14 years and has won 48 of his 53 fights, many in spectacular fashion.

He's 18-2 in world title fights, which in boxing is nearly as remarkable as Ty Cobb's .367 career batting average is in baseball. When you have 20 championship fights, they usually figure a way to cheat you out of a few.

This is a guy who has epitomized the warrior spirit, who has risen to meet every challenge.

It's also time for him to recognize, as he did in the third round on Nov. 18, when it's futile to go on.

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Erik Morales is gunning to become the first Mexican-born fighter to win a world title in four weight classes when he takes on David Diaz for the WBC lightweight championship. Here is what each man must do to win:

Even the ritziest sections of Albuquerque, N.M., are, well, a bit rough. Get into the tough parts of town and you expect to find snarling guys who munch on a mixture of glass and nails for snacks.

WATCH VIDEO: Carlos Condit has called out Brock Larson leading up to their Sunday fight.(Courtesy WEC)

When Carlos Condit was 15 – a skinny, quiet 15-year-old – he strolled into Tom Vaughn's gym in Albuquerque, a place where alpha males congregated.

Bouncers from most of the city's notorious clubs showed up at Vaughn's place to learn better techniques to deal with the trouble that found them on a nightly basis.

Condit had been in a fight in school and wanted to learn how better to take care of himself, as well. And so the fuzzy-cheeked kid who to those aggressive gym patrons had to look like a bloody steak in the middle of a school of sharks, announced his interest in sparring.

That he showed up a second day proved a point to Vaughn. That he was

WATCH VIDEO: WBC 122-pound belt will be on the line in the rematch of Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez. Watch highlights of their first fight, March 3, 2007 in Carson, CA.

In the boxing industry, saying one fights like a Mexican is a euphemism for calling a fighter a brawler.

Rafael Marquez can brawl as well as anyone, and he's 100 percent Mexican, but he's not so easily categorized.

He's one of the best pure boxers in the game, a smart and patient hunter willing to wait out his foe until the time is right to pounce.

It would be just as wrong to peg him as a cautious counter puncher as it would be to tab him a toe-to-toe warrior.

"Whatever he needs to do at a given time, he slips into that type of fighter," his long-time trainer, Nacho Beristain, said. "He adapts to what is happening in the ring as well as anyone who is out there."

Marquez is probably boxing's most anonymous star. He takes on former super bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez in a heated rematch on Saturday in

WATCH VIDEO: Israel Vazquez will try to regain the WBC 122-pound belt he lost to Rafael Marquez. Watch highlights of that first fight.

Not since Jimmy Durante was on the sunny side of 80 has the subject of a man's nose been so prominent.

Israel Vazquez has talked about his nose more in the last week than he has about the world title fight he is preparing for on Saturday.

And Rafael Marquez, the guy whom Vazquez is challenging on Saturday in a Showtime-televised super bantamweight title bout from Hidalgo, Texas, has spent much of his free time discussing the state of Vazquez' proboscis.

"A lot of questions about the nose," Marquez says, politely.

Vazquez and Marquez fought earlier this year at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., for the WBC 122-pound belt that Vazquez owned.

Everyone with an opinion, it seemed, agreed prior to the March 3 bout it had the potential to be brutally entertaining. The potential for cuts, welts, bruises, knockdowns and other mayhem was high.

And as