HBO is starting 2005 with a bomb instead of a blast. The network styles itself “the heart and soul of boxing.” But on Saturday night, its first offering of the year features a mismatch between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (31-0, 21 KOs) and Henry Bruseles (21-2-1, 14 KOs).

As HBO boxing commentator Larry Merchant points out, “HBO usually televises first-rate fights. But this is a case where the pay-per-view tail is wagging the HBO dog.”

Mayweather is sans title at the moment. But the former lightweight champion is pointing toward a June mega fight against Arturo Gatti at 140 pounds. The powers-that-be at HBO are fixated on that bout. They feel that Mayweather is the heir apparent to boxing’s “pound-for-pound” crown, and that a victory over Gatti will elevate him in the public eye.

Mayweather is a complete fighter who can box and punch. The chinks in his armor are brittle hands and questions about his heart if he’s dragged into the trenches by a quality opponent. But Bruseles doesn’t have the skills to truly test him. That’s why he was chosen for Saturday night’s fight, which is meant to set up Mayweather-Gatti. HBO almost lost last year’s Oscar De La Hoya versus Bernard Hopkins super-fight when Felix Sturm came close to upsetting De La Hoya. The network would rather not take that kind of risk again.

Nonetheless, a set of circumstances outside the ring might conspire to prevent Mayweather-Gatti from happening. Mayweather, like Mike Tyson, has become a poster boy for bad behavior.

In 2002, Mayweather plead guilty to two counts of domestic violence in Nevada. Last June, he was found guilty on two counts of misdemeanor battery for beating two women in a Las Vegas nightclub, for which he received a one year suspended sentence, was fined $1,000, and was ordered to undergo counseling.

A felony indictment for allegedly beating Josie Harris, the mother of three of his children, is pending against Mayweather in Las Vegas. If convicted, he could be sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. That case is scheduled for trial in July. Also, on December 17, 2004, an arrest warrant was issued for Mayweather in Michigan after he failed to show up for trial on charges of assault and battery for kicking a bouncer in a bar. That trial has been rescheduled for February.

If Mayweather gets past his legal problems, he’ll be a clear favorite over Gatti. Whether or not he rises to the top of boxing’s “pound-for-pound” ratings depends on how good he looks in his next two fights. More importantly, it depends on Bernard Hopkins, who heads most pound-for-pound lists and signed earlier this week to defend his WBC middleweight title against Howard Eastman on February 19 in Los Angeles.

In the meantime, Mayweather should have no trouble dispatching Bruseles. Don’t expect it to be an entertaining fight; matchups like Mayweather-Bruseles are the reason why the sports press spills more ink for baseball players signing contracts in the middle of winter than for championship fights. Instead of giving subscribers a mediocre fight, HBO should give fans the best matchup available and trust in the maxim that good fights lead to more good fights.

Vivian Harris, the World Boxing Association 140-pound champion, was available to fight Mayweather as was Lovemore N’dou. Harris would have been a great opponent and N’dou would at least have been better than what’s on tap.

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HBO’s opening bout on Saturday night, which showcases heavyweights Samuel Peter (21-0, 18 KOs) and Yanqui Diaz (13-1, 8 KOs), is also more intriguing than the main event.

Peter raised some eyebrows with a brutal one-punch knockout of Jeremy Williams on December 4. He’s a one-dimensional fighter, but in today’s mediocre heavyweight division, that’s hardly grounds for exclusion from the elite. Diaz has victories over Juan Carlos Gomez and Vaughn Bean to his credit.

The fight is part of HBO’s efforts to elevate the heavyweight division, but the network has a lot of work to do. Last month, it lost $2,500,000 when it paid a $5,500,000 license fee for rights to televise WBC titleholder Vitali Klitschko’s defense against Danny Williams on pay-per-view.

“We thought Vitali had some heat as a champion,” HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg acknowledged last week. “But it’s clear the American public hasn’t embraced him as the heavyweight champion. Clearly, they look at him as one of four champions, not the champion. The numbers [only 120,000 pay-per view buys] reflect that. We honestly thought it would do much better.”

Boxing should get its act together and hold a tournament to crown a legitimate heavyweight king. If it does, the best, and presumably most marketable heavyweight will emerge. But as Greenburg admitted, “It’s going to be up to the promoters, fighters, and managers to huddle and determine if identifying a unified champion is in their interests. It’s in the public’s interest and obviously it would be in our interest, but whether they can put aside all of their separate interests and come together to get it done is a different story. We just don’t know.”