The boxing media and fighters within the sport were "hush-hush" leading into the one-time only occurrence that emanated from Boston's TD Garden last weekend, which resulted in the expected outcome to those with an ounce of intelligence, yet they were seemingly well-aware of everything that went down as proven by the need for the topic to come up during a press conference for arguably the biggest/best guy in their sport. You would think the boxing media would have plenty of questions to ask their top dog, yet MMA came up in their first major gathering following the UFC 118 show. Call me crazy, but I don't see Mirko CroCop or Frank Mir being asked by Ariel Helwani or Dave Meltzer about a boxing match with Wladimir Klitschko at the press conference for their upcoming fight at UFC 119 on September 25. Boxing and everyone involved in their sport has its' eye on our sport right now, no doubt about it.

Case in point: Toney-Couture did its' job.

Maybe Pacman is smart enough, along with his handlers, to avoid MMA like a fat person on a diet avoids a cheeseburger, but the interest drawn by the big "UFC vs. boxing" showdown just may have caught the eye of a bigger name boxer somewhere out there. One worth getting amped up for, unlike Toney, who was well past his prime and way out of shape for what was clearly a quick payday, as well as an attempt to build his name to a different audience to increase his appeal in his own sport of boxing. While UFC may have declared the end of their involvement in boxing vs. MMA matched fights, a secondary promotion (such as Strikeforce) could reap the benefits of their one-time experiment if a legit star-boxer is in fact curious enough - or desperate enough depending on their business standing in their sport - to try their luck in our sport.