Pacquiao definitely the best on this night

Whether Manny Pacquiao is still the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world now that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has returned to the sport remains to be seen.

What Pacquiao did make clear with his performance at the MGM Grand Garden was that for six minutes on Saturday night, the Filipino champion was as good as anyone in the sport right now.

He may soon get a chance to settle the pound-for-pound debate if an agreement can be reached to fight Mayweather later in the year.

Mayweather has another fight first, but fight fans will certainly want to see him fight Pacquiao should he get past Marquez.

Pacquaio's camp did not shy away from it at all after the fight, but they made it clear that nothing is imminent and they feel that Mayweather wants nothing to do with Pacquiao.

As for Saturday night, Pacquiao left little doubt about who was the better fighter. Ricky Hatton was able to land a few shots in the clinch in the opening round, but referee Kenny Bayless was quick to separate the fighters.

Every time Pacquiao got space, he was able to pick Hatton apart. Pacquiao got two knockdowns in the first round and then absolutely flattened Hatton with a left at the end of the second round to win the fight.

Pacquiao was especially effective with his right hook, a surprising tool for a southpaw.

It's just another sign that Pacquiao is getting better and better and is quickly entering the ranks of the all-time greats.

MAYWEATHER SCARED?—Freddie Roach, the longtime trainer of Pacquiao, wasn't careful with his words when addressing the possibility of his fighter meeting Mayweather at some point.

In fact, Roach said that Mayweather may have been avoiding Pacquiao by announcing his return before the fight.

"He could have waited one day," Roach said. "I think he's scared of Pacquiao."

Mayweather officially announced Saturday morning that he would return from retirement to meet Juan Manuel Marquez in July.

If the Las Vegan had waited until after the impressive Pacquiao victory to announce his decision, the clamoring for a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout would have been very strong. Mayweather may have then been pressured into taking on Pacquiao right away instead of facing Marquez with a possible matchup with Pacquiao to follow.

CAREER CHANGE?—Pacquiao has apparently opened some doors for himself should he ever choose to get out of boxing.

New York Giants owner Steve Tisch was in attendance with star running back Brandon Jacobs. Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum said at the post-fight press conference that Tisch was there to offer Pacquiao a contract to be the blocking back for Jacobs next season.

As if he had to, Arum was quick to tell the assembled media that he was only kidding.

WHERE'S FLOYD SR.?—Hatton's trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., was by far the most vocal person in either camp in the weeks leading up to the fight.

He had even taken to calling Pacquiao's trainer Freddie "The Joke" Roach. That's why it was particularly interesting that he was nowhere to be seen at the post-fight news conference.

Maybe he was at Taco Bell trying to get tomatoes put on his crunchy taco. My apologies if you didn't watch 24/7.

In fairness, Ricky Hatton was also absent as he was probably trying to just wake up.

ENTOURAGE COUNT—A quick, unofficial count of Pacquiao's entourage came out at around 21. The group was so massive and fluid that it was impossible to get an exact count.

It became a problem when Pacquiao was ushered up to a small, raised podium for a post-fight interview. The entire entourage tried to go with him. Finally, an HBO executive stepped in and said, "Just Manny, guys. Everyone else back up."

It would have been quite a scene to see if the small scaffolding would have held the entire group.

DANGEROUS JOB—One wouldn't normally consider members of the boxing media to be part of a dangerous profession.

Certainly, it doesn't rank up there with Alaskan crab fisherman or crash test dummy.

But one man covering Saturday night's fight would probably argue with that assertion.

About an hour and a half after the fight, he was still writing his story ringside when a camera was dropped from the roof of the arena and shattered on the floor just inches from where he was seated.

It was quite a scary moment.