ESPN's Skip Bayless had his facts wrong, but blamed others for that (Getty)Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless spent a few minutes toward the end of Wednesday's edition of "First Take" on ESPN roughing up boxer Manny Pacquiao. They had their facts incorrect, and they shredded Pacquiao for comments he didn't make.

It wasn't their finest hour. It turns out that Pacquiao hadn't quoted the biblical verse from Leviticus that they accused him of doing. They could have learned that, because six hours before they went on the air and made fools of themselves, the writer of the original report said the Leviticus quotes were his, not Pacquiao's. A slew of other reporters actually got a hold of Pacquiao and clarified the matter.

Smith and Bayless, though, didn't check. They spent about six minutes Wednesday debating whether what Pacquiao had said would impact the finances of a potential fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. They were reporting -- inaccurately -- that Pacquiao had advocated death for homosexuals, and yet they chose to discuss the financial implications those

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and president Oscar De La Hoya (AP)Little could be better for the future health of boxing if the little nugget buried inside a Los Angeles Times news story bears fruit.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told the Times' Lance Pugmire that he's spoken to Top Rank president Todd duBoef regarding a potential Juan Manuel Marquez-Erik Morales fight at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on June 14.

A Marquez-Morales fight should have happened years ago, but that's beside the point in terms of the bigger picture here.

The fact that representatives of the two warring companies are talking about working together again should be cause to celebrate for anyone who wants to see good fights.

Top Rank president Todd duBoef (Chris Farina/Top Rank)They are, by far, the two largest and most successful promoters in the world and they have the largest stable of fighters. But for most of the last five years, and a lot of the last 10, they've refused to do business together because of feuds that are so difficult to unravel, a full explanation would take longer than Chris Berman's

TV host Mario Lopez interviews Manny Pacquiao at his home regarding his controversial statements (AP)If Manny Pacquiao loses, or even struggles to a win, when he fights Timothy Bradley for the World Boxing Organization welterweight title on June 9 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, boxing writers around the world will point to hubbub of the last three days as the reason.

Distractions, they'll say. The controversy surrounding Pacquiao's comments to Examiner.com regarding same-sex marriage will have taken his focus off his preparation for the bout, they'll point out.

Pacquiao is one of the two best fighters in the world, alongside Floyd Mayweather Jr., and super human things are expected of each of them. Pacquiao's better than a 4-1 favorite to beat Bradley, who himself is one of the world's 10 best fighters, and anything less than a dominant win won't be seen as enough.

The truth is, the controversy isn't even a blip on Pacquiao's radar. It will have zero impact upon the way he fights. If he loses, it will be because either Bradley was better on that night or that Pacquiao is