Boxing

In this age, younger people tend to follow the humongous and fierce beast that takes poundings in the Octagon, where they witness a growling and loud howl by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson or witness the massive Brock Lesnar, a scary mixed martial arts fighter earning top-of-the-line hype.

Most are aware of Kimbo Slice, a martial arts specialist who has become a magnet among youth in the mainstream sport these days.

Yes, slang and You Tube are two big attractions in our young society, which is how most youngsters learned about Slice by watching videos of him in backyard brawls.

Before Ultimate Fighting started luring our curious and hysterical-minded minors, there was boxing as most people drew attention to Oscar De La Hoya, a legendary fighter who brought fun to the ring.

He was the knockout freak, the gold medalist, the pretty boy who everyone refers to as the Golden Boy, a name fittingly for his brilliant singing voice.

But even greater than his vocals or facial features were his brutal punches and jabs, to draw the attention of millions after putting up dukes to finish his boxing career with a record of 39-6 and 30 knockouts, memories boxing enthusiast could always retain.

The Golden Boy was the centerpiece of boxing in which he saved a pedestrian sport from a plenary subsidence in revenue and views.

For high-marketed events, most of them could only be seen on Pay-Per-View, which in recent memory boxing rates have relapsed.

But when the Golden Boy made his presence, ratings magnified and it became a main attraction. Earning the name Golden Boy wasn’t just from the gold medal won back in the 1992 Olympic Games.

You can say the name originated from his presence, an icon who was precious as gold, and now that De La Hoya has announced his retirement, it’s a rare piece of gold hard to replace. I’ve came to the conclusion that the era of boxing has reached its final reign.

So now, the older generation could relive their youth by watching the gut-rushing, brutal and bloody beatdowns of UFC. If you could last in a boxing ring, certainly you could last in the Octagon.

It’s clear that De La Hoya’s presence civilized the sport in which boxing exaggerated to a new level since Ali vs. Frazer or since Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield’s earlobe.

The sport is run by independent contractors and executives who are careless about the sport, but only care about the marquee events.

In any way, that doesn’t help a sport, especially in these troubling times. But whenever the marquee events involved De La Hoya, the masses managed to idolize a humble fighter who enriched the sport with his knockout blows or even sex appeal.

Yes, he’ll be missed. And if he isn’t fighting, then there’s nothing else to see. Fine, if you want to see a fight that may only last two minutes or less than a minute, then purchase it.

But clearly without De La Hoya, this sport just lost inflation. There’s no helium left in those balloons at the MGM Grand or Caesar’s Palace. Well, that’s if they sell any balloons.

The masses will probably return to the everyday sports, clearly as football owns the ratings following baseball and then basketball, targeted sports everyone could see on local TV or cable without having to pay an outrageous price to see a knockout very unlikely to last.

At least with most sports, three hours of intense activity is guaranteed.

With boxing, sometimes fights don’t last past a minute, and that’s why most don’t feel it’s worth paying for something that isn’t long-lasting.

But when De La Hoya became the main attraction in the Olympics in Barcelona because of his aptitude inside the ring and courage to buffet antagonists with a heavy heart, he promised his mother, Cecelia, who was dying with breast cancer two years prior to the Barcelona Games.

Everyone watched De La Hoya’s heinous left hook that knocked out a number of his nemeses en route to 10 world titles in six divisions in result of becoming the most popular promoter and fighter.

In the past, he has done well promoting fights himself. The cable network HBO broadcasted 32 of his fights, the most of any boxer and inherited millions in pay-per-view profits.

Now that he has moved on by retiring, he’ll still remain in the boxing business as a promoter with his Golden Boy Promotions Co., a profitable enterprise he’s promoting.

So much for boxing as there won’t be anymore intense, split-decision defeats or dreadful and one-sided losses. And so much for De La Hoya’s clash against a cocky Floyd Mayweather Jr., a fight rated as the most lucrative event in boxing history, when Floyd defeated him in a split-decision.

So much for a sympathetic and humbled boxer, the only one you’ll probably ever know. He’ll be missed inside the ring for breeding a subordinate sport into top-notched nights whenever he’d fight.

But to save his legacy, it was the best thing for De La Hoya, losing two of his last three fights.

The most recent loss came in December in a one-sided duel against the Filipino Manny Pacquiao, which dropped his record, but also indicated it was time to call off boxing.

Now he can save the memorable moments, such as when he beat Germany’s Marco Rudolph in the Olympics, when he knocked out Lamar Williams in his ’92 debut and when he ended Genaro Hernandez and Julio Cesar Chavez’s era.

Or when he really breakthrough in a welterweight title showdown against an unbeaten Felix Trinidad, a fight setting a pay-per-view record for a non-heavyweight contest in a losing cause.

And since then, De La Hoya finished 8-6 in his final 14 fights in which each fight he started to decline.

He lost to Fernando Vargas in an 11-round duel, Shane Mosley twice, a childhood nemesis, and was knocked out by longtime middleweight Bernard Hopkins.

De La Hoya’s departure opens doors for UFC as boxing will lose revenue, though he promotes big-name boxers such as Mosley, Hopkins, England’s sensation Ricky Hatton, and the up-and-coming Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero.

Some of the old timers will likely convert to UFC, and wave so long to boxing. It was fun when the Golden Boy was around, but now it’s a sport that isn’t nearly as interesting.

It’s a sport where there’s nobody as irresistible as gold. It’s a sport where everyone will think back on the passionate Golden Boy, who saved his sport.

For now, the fun is gone. And boxing is gone. So, boxing is inferior. No Golden Boy. No fights. Maybe UFC? But there is no longer holding, quick knockouts, ready to rumbles or rings, just an Octagon and brutal knockouts. Boxing only was fun when it had De La Hoya.

Josh Dhani

Josh has been writing since January 2009 and founded FootBasket in April 2009. He also owns the websites, Hardcourt Mayhem and Gridiron Mayhem. For a full bio, check out JoshDhani.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshDhani