Tune In Early to Get Your Money's Worth

If you're one of the millions of viewers paying to see the big Mayweather/Hatton fight tonight ($65 for HD) then you'd be wise to watch the whole thing. You never know how the main event will stack up (ed. note: I do!), so you might as well get a full night's worth of action for your purchase. Although Mayweather probably won't saunter into the ring until close to midnight, the fights start when HBO Pay Per View goes live at 9 pm. Three of the undercard match-ups will be televised and all of them are worth your time and/or your financial investment. I break down all three after the jump.

• Daniel Ponce de Leon vs. Eduardo Escobedo DPDL destroyed Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista back in August in the fifth consecutive defense of his super bantamweight title. The first round KO of the heralded young challenger left him a bit restless, so he went out and fought a non-title match about six weeks later. Now he's matched up against a new contender whose marred record belies his skill. The challenger has a puncher's chance at +475, but betting against the southpaw is never advised.

• Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy vs. Peter Manfredo Jr. For somebody who's not a very good fighter Manfredo sure gets a shitload of time on television. The former Contender finalist somehow got a fight with Joe Calzaghe and he barely managed to get off a punch. Before a decidedly Welsh flurry of punches ended things in the third round. Now he's in against a former champion in Left Hook Lacy, whose only career loss came in a near shutout decision in a victory that propelled Calzaghe to international fame. It's Lacy's first fight back from rotator cuff surgery, but he certainly looks good to go. It's no gift from an online sportsbook at -500, but you could do worse. If you can find a prop for Lacy to win by KO or TKO I'd be inclined to jump on it.

• Edner Cherry vs. Wes Ferguson This one is a rematch of a fight that wasn't anything too special to begin with. Cherry, who narrowly (but unanimously) won the first fight, has always shown hints of promise but he usually falls pretty flat. His loss to Paul Malignaggi at Hammerstein back in February pretty much proved that the "Cherry Bomb" is nothing but talk. It's not a lock by any means, but Wicked Wes at +190 is worth a look. Personally, I'd save my money for the main event.

And now, here are the punches that put Boom Boom Bautista down twice in the first round.