Mayweather still has earning power – save for 87 days

He's Money in the ring, Money on HBO, and Money on the newsstands.

Boxing champion and HBO "24/7" star Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. continues to command big features in major magazines such as ESPN and Rolling Stone as he approaches his "staycation" at the Clark County Detention Center.

Mayweather's financial acumen is heralded in both cover articles even as he prepares to report to the CCDC June 1 to begin an 87-day sentence for domestic battery. It may take him that long to count the $32 million he knocked down for dancing 12 rounds this month with Miguel Cotto.

As Mayweather's main adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, tells ESPN writer Tim Keown, "Love him or hate him, he's the bank vault. Love him or hate him, he's going to make the bank drop."

Love him or hate him, Mayweather is far from finished earning big dollars for himself and the barons of the Boulevard.

JUST A MINUTE: The traffic had slowed to a crawl on Interstate 15, as it does every afternoon, and I was wedged into the middle of it. But Spencer Larson was blissfully ripping right along on his stationary bicycle atop a shipping container draped with a banner advertising his "1 Minute Exercise Challenge" plan. (For more information, go to www.1minuteexercise­challenge­.com.)

Give the man credit. Not only is he attracting attention and staying in shape, but at times he moves just as fast as the traffic during rush hour.

BASEBALL TIPS: Ever wanted to tip a Las Vegas 51?

I'm not talking about giving the ballplayers your views on hitting the slider. This is something even more important: a chance to meet the future big leaguers as they serve you lunch Saturday at Hash House A Go Go inside The M Hotel.

Tickets are $25, and proceeds will benefit Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada. For more information, call 702-386-7200 or go to www.candlelightersnv.org.

GROUCHY JOHN: No, Grouchy John's is not named in my honor. But thanks for asking.

The presence of the Grouchy John's coffee and espresso drink truck is yet another sign of the tasty evolution of the local mobile food and drink scene. Owner John Ynigues also has a brick-and-mortar store at 8520 S. Maryland Parkway.

With so many people enjoying meals and drinks off trucks, when do you suppose corporate behemoths such as Starbucks and Subway will start sending out fleets of vehicles in an effort to crush the mom-and-pop operators?

Alas, as the Orange County Register reports, the corporate giants already are starting to hog the Southern California roads. Fleets from Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, Wienerschnitzel, Sizzler and others hit the street last year.

Let's hope they get stuck in traffic a long, long time before becoming omnipresent in Southern Nevada.

HELLO, OPERATOR: Longtime local attorney Pat Fitzgibbons recalls a time local phone numbers contained four digits and an operator was needed to place calls. In the early 1950s, there was up to a one-hour wait to place a call, party lines, and "a two-year waiting list to get a residential phone," the 86-year-old Fitzgibbons says.

The next time you want to feel very, very old, try explaining all that to the average 8-year-old as he operates his own cellphone with text-messaging capability.

ON THE BOULEVARD: The buzz is building for Mingo, a kitchen and lounge in the works downtown. It's set to open this summer. ... Black Book member Richard Perry marked his 67th birthday this week. He has a lot to celebrate after settling into an island paradise sports book in the Dominican Republic. I'll bet no one calls him "Richie the Fixer" down there.

BOULEVARD II: That's a lot of candles. Longtime local physician Joseph George recently celebrated his 99th birthday. ... It's not her birthday, but it's long past time for the charming MaryKaye Cashman to tell her own Las Vegas story.

Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? Email comments and contributions to Smith
@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.