By David P. Greisman

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is prodigiously talented, an undefeated three-time titlist, and at the age of 28, arguably the best boxer in the sport today. Alas, he’s wasting everyone’s time, including his own, testing seemingly everyone’s patience but his own.

For three years, over his past five fights, Pretty Boy Floyd has faced off with little but second and third-tier opponents, all the while attempting to establish himself as the rightful claimant to the pound-for-pound throne.

Meanwhile, Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, two victims of Mayweather’s greatest triumphs, have used their respective last fives to give themselves greatly difficult challenges within brief amounts of time. They have confronted top-notch competition, including each other twice, garnering fans while justifying any consideration for them as denizens of the upper echelon.

Boxing is a sport that causes those who follow it to fall in love with dueling elements, the stylish sweet science of a Mayweather, and the blood and guts wars of Castillo and Corrales. It draws us in closely, so that we express ownership, defending our favorites against detractors and arguing vociferously against those that decry the violence.

Yet this affection tends to lead to frustration, irritation that Mayweather, a sensation with potential for immortality, continues to tease pundits and observers with mega-matches, only to end up scheduled against has-beens and never-weres, while his ego inflates nevertheless.

His mouth has motored in recent months, calling out all of the true champions from junior welterweight to junior middleweight: Ricky Hatton, Zab Judah and Winky Wright. Instead of delighting us with these extravaganzas, Mayweather’s Nov.19 television date provides the relative letdown of Sharmba Mitchell.

While Mitchell may once have been far beyond the levels of past Mayweather stooges Phillip N’dou, Victoriano Sosa and Henry Bruseles, Sharmba is now far out of his prime and aging, and not like fine wine.

Mitchell’s career is on the down slope, each passing year bringing him closer to forty, and he has been exiled to the welterweights as a result of his knockout loss last year to Kostya Tszyu. Conversely, Mayweather is approaching thirty and needs to get himself on the fast track to the Hall of Fame before his God-given gifts diminish, opening up the possibility of a tainted legacy.

And as is often the case with celebrities and professional athletes, Mayweather is doing this to himself.

A successful pay-per-view with Arturo Gatti misled Mayweather into believing that he was finally a draw, and he apparently began to demand parity or the lion’s share of purses when negotiating the mega-fights that never materialized. Vexed, Mayweather allegedly circumvented his promoter in setting up his bout with Mitchell, and now Bob Arum has reportedly initiated litigation against his fighter, Al Haymon (Mayweather’s advisor), HBO and Goossen-Tutor Promotions.

Just what boxing needs: More lawsuits. More mismatches. More flaring egos. More testing of patience. More wasting of time.

The 10 Count

1.  Contestants from the first season of The Contender returned to the airwaves this weekend, as ESPN broadcasted the rematch of May’s million-dollar finale between the winner, Sergio Mora, and Peter Manfredo Jr. My appetite was hankering for quality, with the hope that these fighters had improved their crafts so as to shine in their returns to the grand stage. Instead, I was left unsatisfied by uninspired and unrefined performances, bored beyond belief.

2.  In the main event, my scorecard read like it did five months prior: with Mora the victor. Despite a markedly better showing by Manfredo, I saw less reason for controversy than others were espousing, mainly due to my inability to see the Rhode Island resident land clean, effective punches.

It was an ugly fight, albeit suspenseful: one wondered if the fight would be stopped at any time and awarded to Manfredo on the basis of the nasty gash above Mora’s left eye, caused by a head butt and errantly attributed to a punch. There was enough hoopla leading up to the telecast (shown on ESPN instead of the usual ESPN2) that it seemed feasible that commission authorities were giving more leeway to an injured pugilist than they normally would.  Mora’s admission afterward that his vision was afflicted indicts this possibility as probable.

3.  On the undercard prior to Mora-Manfredo was another rematch, pitting Jesse Brinkley against Anthony Bonsante in a super middleweight bout. Considering the tendency of the two to mix it up, the bout unexpectedly became a jab-fest, with the rare inclusion of power punches. Only after the five rounds had been completed did something occur to raise my head: judges awarded their decision unanimously to Brinkley, even though the results appeared to point toward Bonsante as the obvious victor.

4.  I feel sorry for Juan De La Rosa, Jonathan Reid and Miguel Espino, three first-season contestants who found themselves relegated to the non-televised portion of the card. Needing publicity to combat their prior anonymity, they toiled for a much smaller audience than five of their castmates. On the bright side, they received paydays and a continuation of the opportunities provided by The Contender, a chance not extended to multitudes of others both from in the show and the sport.

5.  If there was one bright side from the broadcast, it was Alfonso Gomez, the welterweight that stepped up two weight divisions in order to compete on the show, and then overcame expectations by advancing all the way to the semifinals, earning a third-place finish. Gomez “stepped outside of The Contender family” by facing Luciano Perez, a late replacement for injured castmate Jeff Fraza. Winning via fourth-round stoppage, Gomez entertained with his fan-friendly style, promising, at the very minimum, future television dates if he doesn’t develop into a true contender.

6.  What a pleasure to have a true announcement crew working the fights in Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas, a stark contrast to the dreadful play-by-play provided by executive producer Sylvester Stallone in May. Unfortunately, Sly was still around to induce groans, announcing that Rocky 6 would soon be developed for production. Stallone cited the extended careers of George Foreman, Larry Holmes and Ronald Hearns as inspirations for this sequel’s plot. I cite the recent career of Sylvester Stallone as reason for the sequel to not be filmed.

7.  Boxers Behaving Badly, Another Recurring Series: Eric Morel, the 30-year-old former WBA flyweight titlist, was sentenced to a measly two years for sexually assaulting a passed-out 15-year-old girl. According to a report by Mark Stewart of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Morel’s sentence includes two years of probation following his release, and the possibility (to be determined later) that Morel will have to register as a sex offender.

8.  Promoter Frank Warren has moved for a legal injunction stopping November’s junior welterweight unification bout between Ricky Hatton and Carlos Maussa. The expectation is that Warren will continue to seek resolution on his contract dispute with Hatton, with the possibility of legal damages stemming from the Hatton-Maussa fight, should the courts find in Warren’s favor. For the moment, this is good news for Hatton, who needs desperately to capitalize on his June defeat of longtime 140-lb. king Kostya Tszyu.

9. Having read that Calvin Brock could face David Tua next January, I look forward to seeing if those reports turn out to be truthful. Tua would first need to get by Cisse Salif this week, while Brock would be required to do the same in November against David Bostice. Despite Tua’s past inability to fulfill his potential and his recent string of inactivity, his would be a good name to add to Brock’s ledger. Brock began 2005 with good victories over Clifford Etienne and Jameel McCline, but has since been stuck in neutral, facing keep-busy opponents like Bostice and Kenny Craven while waiting to cash in on his hard work. If Brock beats Bostice and Tua, I’d like to see him face one more top-ten heavyweight before receiving a title opportunity.

10.  Looking forward to this Friday, when Vernon Forrest continues his post-injury comeback by facing middleweight journeyman Elco Garcia. Forrest is one of the good guys in boxing, but his injury and two-year layoff have left him one division higher, a junior middleweight searching for the answer as to how much his body has left over from his welterweight glory days. While Forrest may have put away Sergio Rios in July, he will need to test himself often with increasingly difficult foes in order to gauge precisely what his next move should be.