Franchise Thoughts: Money Mayweather to Make $20 Mil for WWE Appearance, Calzaghe-Hopkins is Free

Last time Floyd "Money" Mayweather made $20 million in one night, he had to go the distance with Oscar De La Hoya. Next month he'll get a similar payday doing something a little less strenuous.

As reported by the AP and picked up by various outlets, Mayweather is set to cash an eight-figure check for appearing at the WWE's WrestleMania 24, where he'll take part in a match against someone a little out of his normal weight class: wrestler Paul "Big Show" Wight. No word yet on what the exact format of the match will be, but the WrestleMania press conference had at least one comedic moment when Floyd had to stand on something to see eye-to-eye with Big Show.

It's big money for minimal risk to Mayweather, so you can hardly knock it. And while it will certainly drum up some interest from boxing fans who wouldn't normally watch the WWE, it still seems like a bit of a financial gamble for them. Last year's pay-per-view, sans Floyd, drew over a million buys and made $5 million more at the gate. I'm no accountant, but even with a bigger gate this year at Orlando's Citrus Bowl (a fairly safe assumption), Mayweather's presence will have to be worth several hundred thousand extra buys to pay off.

We'll see if it does. Meanwhile, props to those news stories taking the match a little too seriously by talking about how much weight Floyd is giving away to his giant (pun intended) opponent and that he's been training with Rey Mysterio. This just in off the BoxingWatchers.com newswire: wrestling is scripted! He'll be in no more danger than when he fought Arturo Gatti.

Staying on the subject of PPV broadcasts, it's great to hear about one that won't be taking place: Joe Calzaghe versus Bernard Hopkins. No, the fight's not off, but it will be free - at least if you subscribe to HBO. That's because sponsorship from the Planet Hollywood casino has allowed the fight to be shown without charging viewers extra, which is good news indeed.

Add that to the fact that De La Hoya's May tune-up fight with Steve Forbes will also be on regular HBO (surprising considering where we are in Oscar's career) and it's looking like boxing fans won't have to shell out much extra dough over the next few months. Only the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez card on March 15 looms as a PPV, and quite honestly, Pac Man gets my money every time.

Disclaimer: All members of the BoxingWatchers.com staff are part Filipino!