It was supposed to be the last big fight, the one that would save boxing. But you can't resuscitate the dead. When Oscar De La Hoya lost a split decision to Floyd Mayweather last weekend in the fight that was supposed to save boxing, there was a hollow feeling and it had nothing to do with the fight itself.
Mayweather and De La Hoya staged a classic for the ages, which made the event all the sadder because, well, now what? The boxing world has to go back to the likes of Ruslan Chagaev fighting Oleg Maskaev for the heavyweight championship of the world and Juan Diaz fighting Julio Diaz or David Diaz for the lightweight title.
You think Jack Nicholson or Will Ferrell will make the trek to Las Vegas to see the Diaz scraps? Probably not. The truth is De La Hoya is the biggest name in boxing right now and he is 34 years old. He was named Ring magazine's Fighter of the Year - in 1995.
The only gold in the Golden Boy these days is in his bank account. It's not likely, but even if De La Hoya pulls a George Foreman and fights until he's in his 40s, the gig is basically up for Oscar and boxing as well. When he leaves, the era of big fights will go with him and it is so sad. There really is no buzz quite so electric in sports as a big fight. Even the weigh-ins draw millions of viewers and for good reason as there is often a brawl between rival camps.
One sycophant wants to endear himself to his fighter so he starts something with another flunky from the other guy's camp and next thing you know all hell breaks loose. It's not exactly a slugfest on par with the Taiwanese parliament, but it's great theatre nonetheless. Man, I am going to miss that.
'It's not true that boxing is dead,' said Hong Kong fight impresario Pierre Ingrassia. 'It's a little more complicated than that. For the past 2,000 years boxing has been number one because everybody understands that you only have two weapons. That is simple and timeless. In places like the Philippines and China, boxing is hardly in decline. Everybody just measures things by the US and how Don King and all these charlatans' promoters are doing.'
But I like the charlatans, I really do. Don King is as much a part of boxing folklore as Muhammad Ali. For the casual boxing fan, there is no substitute for the circus and the casual fans are the ones who make a big fight big.