Floyd Mayweather came through his toughest test since his first meeting with Jose Luis Castillo in Las Vegas recently when he claimed a tough but deserved decision against Miguel Cotto.
His nose was bloodied and he was caught more in the fight than his previous six bouts combined. But when the dust settled his '0' was still intact and he'd also picked up the WBA world and WBC diamond light-middleweight titles for his troubles.
At 35, Floyd proved he still has the skills to pay the bills but incredibly, at time of writing, he is now facing up to a stint in prison as he begins at 87-day jail term for domestic violence.
Fingerprints and not autographs will be the order of the day for 'Money May' but expect him to do his time and then get back to what he does best. Time seems to be running out on that mega fight with Manny Pacquiao. The latter seems pre-occupied with politics in his homeland these days and is no banker to see off Tim Bradley in his next fight.
I will say this though. If Mayweather performed as he did against Cotto against Pacquiao, there is every chance he would have ended up unconscious.
For the first time in a long time Mayweather's defensive guard was breached time and again by Cotto, who could have sprung a shock if his punches possessed a little more snap.
It was an engrossing tussle and Cotto's stock rose if anything for going toe-to-toe with the Michigan master. However, as he always does, Floyd found a way, getting home in the end by scores of 118-110 and 117-11 twice.
Mayweather v Pacquiao needs to happen. Period. These two ring giants need to settle their differences and illuminate the sport in the way Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns and Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson once did.
If they don't, they'll both retire millions upon millions of dollars the poorer and both will have question marks against their names.
One fighter answering all the questions being asked of him is Saul Alvarez, who dealt with former 'pound-for-pound' top dog Shane Mosley in quite emphatic fashion on the undercard of Mayweather-Cotto.
'Canelo' is but 21 but already he has punched out 40 straight wins and claimed a WBC light-middleweight title.
The Hispanic fight fans have taken him to their hearts and his 'search and destroy' mentality means he will always be popular amongst the Latinos.
Mosley was no match and the word around the campfire is he could enter a shoot-out with wild-punching James Kirkland next. That would be one to savour and if he wins that then 'Canelo' will be knocking on the 'P4P' top-10 door.
One fighter who re-enters the top 10 is Chad Dawson. 'Bad' Chad dealt with ageing phenom Bernard Hopkins recently, and as a consequence leapfrogs 'The Executioner' into eighth spot.
Dawson, a southpaw blessed with speed and ring smarts, really looked the part against Hopkins. However, 'Nard hardly disgraced himself and for my money is still good enough to compete and beat anyone else at light-heavyweight not called Chad Dawson.
Sportinglife.com pound-for-pound world top 10:
1 Manny Pacquiao
2 Floyd Mayweather
3 Juan Manuel Marquez
4 Andre Ward
5 Sergio Martinez
6 Nonito Donaire
7 Miguel Cotto
8 Chad Dawson
9 Bernard Hopkins
10 Carl Froch
Honourable mentions: Amir Khan, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Brandon Rios, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Saul Alvarez, Timothy Bradley, Wladimir Klitschko.
