THIS may not be good news for boxing, but Floyd Mayweather Jr. has again proven it pays a lot more to be “Money” Mayweather than it ever did being “Pretty Boy” Floyd.

Although few people may remember it, when Mayweather was fighting for Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions early in his career, an effort was made to market him as the new Oscar de la Hoya. He was sold not only for his boxing skill but also his smile, which can be a winning one. Sadly, the cordial side of Mayweather never caught on, and despite his ring dominance, neither did he.

Although Mayweather won his first world championship after only 17 fights (stopping Genaro Hernandez in 1998 to win the WBC super-featherweight title), and went on to win titles in several other weight classes while turning down a $12-million, multifight deal with HBO, it was not until he left Arum and that smile behind that he became boxing’s biggest draw.

It has been as “Money” Mayweather, the self-absorbed bad boy so many love to hate, that the boxer has ascended to the top of the rankings that counts the most in boxing: the money rankings. That was reaffirmed last week when it was announced that September’s Mayweather-Victor Ortiz welterweight title fight was the second-largest-grossing non-heavyweight pay-per-view fight in boxing history, with sales to 1.25 million viewers, grossing $78.44 million.

It was the third-straight time Mayweather produced more than 1 million buys and the fourth in his last five fights. Mayweather now has appeared in the three biggest non-heavyweight PPV-grossing fights in history (his showdown with de la Hoya did 2.4 million buys good for $136,853,700; last year’s whitewashing of Shane Mosley sold to 1.4 million homes, while grossing $78,330,000; and last month’s knockout win grossed more with fewer buys because the HD price was $69.99). With those numbers, Mayweather has no financial incentive to face Manny Pacquiao.

“Every time Floyd steps into the ring, he reminds us that he is the greatest fighter in the sport today and certainly its biggest star.” Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said in a press release. “The financial success of his fight with Victor Ortiz reinforces Floyd’s position in the sport as iconic and he should be appreciated for bringing all of this attention and good fortune to the sport. His pay-per-view success is staggering and the history books will reflect this impact.”

What is just as impactful is neither Arum nor Showtime released Pacquiao’s pay-per-view numbers for his May blowout of Mosley. Arum took Pacquiao away from HBO for that fight in a petulant response to a petty squabble with the network’s then-President Ross Greenburg. While the move is what probably led to Greenburg’s departure, industry insiders insist the fight did not generate the kind of pay-per-view numbers Pacquiao had in the past. One industry source familiar with the PPV side of boxing said Pacquiao-Mosley sold considerably less than Mayweather-Mosley.

Mayweather’s pay-per-view popularity assures one thing: It just got harder to make a fight with Pacquiao, a fact Arum alluded to last week when he called the fight unlikely days before those numbers were made public.

Short jabs

Light-heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (23-0, 19 KOs) figures to have a wild New Year’s Eve. He’ll likely defend his title against WBC cruiserweight champion and former WBO light-heavyweight champion Zsolt Erdei (33-0, 18 KOs) that night on Showtime. The only thing standing in the way is Don King, who promotes Cloud, but it appears the deal will get done. If it does it figures to be an action fight because both guys have a compass that points in only one direction—straight ahead....

Kudos to wise boxing fans who chose not to buy the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson fight. Considering Dawson’s style, there was no way the fight could be interesting and it ended controversially when Dawson threw Hopkins to the canvas and separated his shoulder. The show did less than 40,000 PPV sales and sold only 3,888 tickets for a gate of $285,677 at Staples Center. So why did HBO pay a $3-million rights fee? Don’t know, but new boss Ken Hershman should be asking that question when he takes over on January 9....

Unified junior-welterweight champion Tim Bradley returns to the ring for the first time since stopping Devin Alexander in January on November 12 underneath Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez against 40-year-old former champion Joel Casamayor with the WBO 140-pound title at stake. Casamayor is not only shop worn but fighting 10 pounds or more above his best weight....

On December 3 IBF-WBC bantamweight champion Abner Mares will try to prove he can beat former champion Joseph Agbeko without hitting him below the belt more times than most guys get hit above the belt after the IBF mandated an immediate rematch following Mares’s controversial victory.

At a press conference last week, Agbeko said he held no grudges but warned, “I’m looking forward to a war. There will be no more low blows this time because the world is watching. I will prove to the world that I deserved to win the last fight. I didn’t want to retaliate with low blows. After every round I came back to my corner and they told me to keep going after him and protect myself. They just kept telling me to do what we trained to do and not to change.”

My guess is if Mares goes low this time, Agbeko won’t listen to that advice. Nor should he....

Seventeen years ago, Oliver McCall knocked out Lennox Lewis in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. On Saturday night the 46-year-old former champion will headline a comeback effort at Mohegan Sun Arena when he takes on undefeated Mariusz Wach (25-0, 13 KOs) for the WBC International heavyweight title. McCall (56-11, 37 KOs) claimed “America is looking for its next up-and-coming heavyweight. I want to show them we already have one.’’

Wach stands six-foot-seven and is coming off what was literally one of the biggest knockouts in heavyweight history when he stopped 6-6 Kevin McBride of Dorchester three months ago.

“He reminds me of Henry Akinwande without the jab,’’ McCall said of Wach....

Emanuel Steward added another top fighter to his training stable when he recently agreed to take over featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa. Gamboa (21-0, 16 KOs) is the former Cuban defector and 2004 Olympic gold medalist who has twice held portions of the 126-pound title. His offensive style seems a perfect match for the 67-year-old Steward, who has always been an advocate of action fighters and power punching....

On Saturday night IBF super-middleweight champion Lucian Bute (29-0, 24 KOs) will try to keep himself in line for a big-money showdown with the winner of the December 17 Showtime “Super Six” final when he faces 42-year-old former champion Glen Johnson (51-15-2, 35 KOs) on Showtime. Bute not only is in line for the winner of the Andre Ward-Carl Froch match, it’s the reason Showtime signed him to a multifight deal, but Johnson has upset more than a few such plans and would love to do it to someone with whom he’s sparred nearly 100 rounds over the years.

“With Glen Johnson, what you have in front of you is what you get,’’ Bute said. “He’s an aggressive fighter, he sets everything up with a nice jab, he’s got a really dangerous right hand and he likes to put on the pressure. He wears his opponent down and if he puts that pressure on me all night it’s going to be a long night. If I pick my moments here and there with the angles I think I can have a great evening....”

Looking to invest a few dollars? Here’s a suggestion. How about buying the red trunks Muhammad Ali landed on in the 14th round of his first fight with Joe Frazier? They are part of an online auction offered by SCP Auctions. Bidding opened this weekend and goes through November 19. For information, go to www.scpauctions.com.