Floyd Mayweather A Bigger PPV Draw Than Manny Pacquiao » It’s long since been argued by boxing experts that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is far more important to the sport of boxing than Manny Pacquiao. While the latter no doubt carries a rabid international fan base that makes its presence known on online message boards, the former has the stats and dollar amounts backing his impact up… Alex Groberman, www.opposingviews.com

WBC Strips Sergio Martinez, Orders Sebastian Zbik-Julio Cesar Chavez » Former southpaw WBC middleweight (160 pounds) king Sergio Martinez has been declared the WBC’s Emeritus Champion, essentially stripping the Argentinian-born fighter of the crown he earned by dethroning Kelly Pavlik in April… Lem Satterfield, boxing.fanhouse.com

John Duddy Retires, Drops HBO Fight » John Duddy, the popular New York-based middleweight from Ireland who was the personification of a boxing blood-and-guts warrior, abruptly announced his retirement on Tuesday… Dan Rafael, sports.espn.go.com

Martinez and Duddy photo by © Howard Schatz

 (© Howard Schatz)

>> LOOKS LIKES JOHN DUDDY HAS MISSED HIS SHOT, FOR NOW, AT KELLY PAVLIK AND THE MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE Duddy won a majority decision over Walid Smichet in a bout that many at ringside felt he was fortunate to win. But Duddy may have lucked out in the long run because he was badly cut and won’t be able to fight Pavlik in the Garden on June 7. —Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports

>> Boxing has a severe heavyweight drought — as if a meteorite had destroyed the interesting, entertaining, talented ones. HBO’s last pay-per-view heavyweight bout (Rahman-Oleg Maskaev) drew 50,000 buys in August 2006. —Richard Sandomir, nytimes.com

>> The title of heavyweight champion once was among the most magical in sport, but that was yesterday, when the Thrilla was in Manila. Or else ears were being bitten off. Now it battles against the early days of the Grapefruit League for headline space. —Mike Lopresti, Gannett News Service

(Duddy Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images; Insert: Al Bello/Getty Images)