I'd be lying if I said Floyd Mayweather's near shut-out of Carlos Baldomir was a fight of the year candidate.  And to those who complain because it didn't hold a candle to Hagler-Hearns I say, stop lying to yourselves. Because nobody in their right minds can honestly say that they were surprised with the manner that Mayweather lifted Baldomir's world welterweight championship. And that includes Oscar De la Hoya. Oscar says he doesn't see the need for a mega-fight with Mayweather. In fact, De la Hoya said he didn't even watch the fight. And as Oscar told Boxingtalk, there is an offer on the table, but now it is suddenly under a week deadline. Its enough to make a person wonder if De la Hoya was ever serious about meeting the pound-for-pound Picasso in May.

Because to believe De la Hoya's negotiation with Floyd Mayweather is like believing that Oscar would take Golden Boy Promotions and "save" boxing from the "other" empires who have been a burden to the sport of boxing.  And just after those words were echoed from his mouth, his  company charged the die hard fans of boxing to watch Marco Antonio Barrera put on a sparring session against a guy that most columnists still can't remember. While De la Hoya sees the Mayweather fight as an undeserved opportunity, he didn't cringe at the idea of charging 50 bucks a pop to take on the first ballot-hall-of-famer Yory Boy Campas a few years ago.  

If De la Hoya wants to be critical of Mayweather -- or any fighter at that -- that's his right. If he wants to rip a man for his competition or his arrogance, by all means, do so. And let’s be fair, Oscar has fought more big fights than anyone in the sport, despite the occasional Yori Boy Campas or Patrich Charpentier. But it is hard to justify criticizing Mayweather as being undeserving after just undressing the genuine welterweight champion in a near perfect performance, while at the same time continuing to boast about knocking out Ricardo Mayorga as if he was the ghost of Jake LaMotta.

Even if you can gross 30 million a fight.

De la Hoya is right in one aspect of things though. He doesn't need Mayweather.  His competition speaks for itself. Mayweather, while fighting a lot of quality fighters and top names, has yet to establish himself as a headliner of a big pay-per-view event. Both fighters have extremely self absorbed egos, however, making the possibility of a fight -- especially with his recent demands --- more of an after thought than a reality. And that's the sad truth of what our beloved sport has become.

There are far too many reasons why fighters shouldn't fight so-and-so and far too few punches being thrown in the ring to prove anything. And at the end of the day boxing is about stepping in the ring and putting it all on the line. It's about the most intense one-on-one competition the world has to offer. What's better than seeing it brought out by two of the best boxers of the last era?

Certainly not Margarito or Trinidad.

So, boxing fans, let us pray that for whatever reason -- legit or no -- that the Golden Boy and the Pretty Boy squash any and all dilemmas and meet face to face in the center of the ring. Because no matter how many questions De la Hoya or Mayweather ask, that's the only way anyone will get any answers worth listening to.

M

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