Gary Shaw is going after Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions. Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez will fight in a rubber match for the WBC super Bantamweight title on Saturday. Since Shaw promotes Marquez and De La Hoya co-promotes Vazquez, it would make sense for these two to work closely to promote this fight, which will be televised live on Showtime.

The Golden Boy however, is not actively working the Vazquez-Marquez fight; he held a news conference on Tuesday but not to promote his fighter. The conference was to promote him and announce his May 3 bout with Steve Forbes.

Doing this infuriated Shaw, who was concerned about the impact this announcement would have on ticket sales for his fight.

“What happened (Tuesday) was also totally wrong,” Shaw said. “This week should belong to two Hall of Fame fighters, Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez, who have literally left their blood on the canvas in two prior fights, and are about to complete their amazingly exciting trilogy Saturday.”

“That is what this week is all about and should have been all about. Nothing personal against Golden Boy; we are going to sell out anyway. But for the life of me, I will never understand why they did what they did, especially when they co-promote one of the fighters. Why would a promoter try to take the limelight away from one of their own fighters? This should have been Israel’s time, not Oscar’s.”

Shaw went on to mock De La Hoya’s often stated intention to change boxing. He said actions such as what De La Hoya pulled shows he is only interested in promoting himself.

Saturday’s big UFC 82 show from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio is going to be off the chain. The middleweight “unification” bout between Dan Henderson (+115) and Anderson Silva (-145) has drawn the attention of hardcore MMA fans – especially fans of PRIDE, whose Welterweight title Henderson still holds. Their undying support is part of the reason “Hollywood” has been bet down slightly from +120 last week.

More casual fans are lining up to check out this event, as well. These are two powerful strikers; yes, there will be blood. Silva is the more proficient striker, while Henderson’s wrestling skills give him the advantage if and when he manages to get Silva off his feet. That’ll be the hard part. Silva is undefeated in five UFC bouts and hasn’t lost anywhere since getting disqualified two years ago versus Yushin Okami, who is also on this card as a –220 chalk over Evan Tanner.

UFC is bringing out the big guns for this one. Each of the 10 bouts scheduled for  UFC 82  has something to offer, and odds are available for the full card.

Here are the five bouts on the main card scheduled for Mar. 1, with odds at press time:

Middleweight: Anderson Silva (-150) vs. Dan Henderson (+120)
Heavyweight: Heath Herring (+145) vs. Cheick Kongo (-175)
Middleweight: Evan Tanner (+170) vs. Yushin Okami (-220)
Middleweight: Chris Leben (-165) vs. Alessio Sakara (+135)
Welterweight: Jon Fitch (-625) vs. Chris Wilson (+425)

That last fight jumps out at you because of the chalk Fitch is carrying. He was originally supposed to fight Akihiro Gono, but Wilson will make his UFC debut instead after Gono pulled out with a hand injury. Wilson is 13-3 (one no-contest) with a win over Ray Steinbeiss at BodogFight – Vancouver. He’s the wild card in this betting equation and might be worth supporting at that payout.

We’ve cleared the halfway mark of the 10th NBA season since the Michael Jordan Bulls charged into the sunset. The Eastern Conference has been dominated by the West ever since. And for every Kevin Garnett that comes in, out goes a Shaquille O’Neal and a Pau Gasol.

But maybe the New Jersey Nets will get their midterm grade raised by sending Jason Kidd to Dallas by next Thursday’s trade deadline.

Boston: A+
Detroit: A+
Orlando: A
Toronto: C+
Cleveland: C
Washington: C-
Atlanta: D-
New Jersey: F
Indiana: F
Milwaukee: F
Charlotte: F
Chicago: F
New York: F
Miami: F
Philadelphia: Satisfactory

Looks like half the conference needs remedial school. The Sixers have performed admirably since the Allen Iverson trade (more Western poaching) and therefore receive a Satisfactory mark for their rebuilding efforts. Charlotte is no longer an expansion team, so no slack for the Bobcats. And of course, Boston and Detroit are at the head of the class.

The NFL is the only one of the four major pro sports to have its All-Star Game at the end of the season. This makes some sense for the Pro Bowl; the league doesn’t need to interrupt its regular season to do any barnstorming. It’s also a more relaxed environment for the players – Honolulu in February, with no opponents to worry about the following week.

But will anyone watch when the AFC and NFC clash this Sunday? Nearly 100 million Americans have already seen one of the greatest football games ever at Super Bowl XLII. Conversely, last year’s Pro Bowl got a 5.1 rating, or roughly 5.75 million viewers. This year’s event might not even out-point NASCAR’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, not when Tom Brady and Randy Moss aren’t playing.

The Pro Bowl format can’t change until after next year, but don’t be surprised if the NFL moves the game to the weekend before the Super Bowl.

What, no more football? No sweat. The NBA is ready to take center stage, and with a new look this season at the top of the standings. The Boston Celtics are clinging to first in the East, and the Phoenix Suns are a half-game up on the New Orleans Hornets (!) for first in the West.

The big story this week, though, is the significant trade that sent Pau Gasol to the L.A. Lakers. Going the other way is a relatively modest package including Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and a pair of first-round picks. The Lakers added a star player without touching their core assets; they’ll win plenty of games with Gasol, and when Andrew Bynum comes back – yikes.

The defending champion Spurs look like they’re out of gas, and the Suns are too thin to avoid the wear and tear of the playoff grind. How about a Lakers-Hornets Western final?

The quarterbacks are the most important players on the football field. And when the New England Patriots meet the New York Giants on Super Bowl Sunday, it will be New England with the superior quarterback.

Tom Brady has taken a major step toward challenging Joe Montana’s place as the consensus Best QB Ever. Brady threw a league-record 50 TD passes this year and posted a passer rating of 117.2. His previous career high was 92.6. Eli Manning has yet to come close to that level of achievement. In fact, his numbers are regressing. Manning threw 23 TD passes and 20 interceptions in 2007 with a QB rating of 73.9, the worst of his three full seasons in the NFL.

At some point, Manning has the potential to be spoken of in the same breath as his brother Peyton. That point has not arrived yet. Brady was ready fresh out of the box; he’ll earn his fourth ring on Sunday.