With screams of "controversy" coming from American media members, The Daily Telegraph says Evander Holyfield wasn't really in the fight against Nikolay Valuev. Gareth A. Davies covered the WBA heavyweight tilt in Zurich and dropped this line about the scoring:

Two of the judges scored the contest in favour of the 23st, 7ft giant, 116-112, 115-114, while judge Guillermo Perez had it 114-114. That was being generous to the American ring legend.

Generous is interesting terminology. With almost no punch output, it was hard to see Valuev grabbing any of the first six rounds. At best he was down 5-1. So how is a 6-6 draw on the scorecard of Guillermo Perez generous?

The jab must have been the difference on the judges scorecards:

Holyfield showing glimpses - just glimpses - of the great fighting spirit and his ability to counter-punch out of adversity which he once possessed, yet it was Valuev who simply used his size, reach and strength advantages to control the fight with his jab, and keep a bouncing Holyfield at bay.

The bouncing Holyfield actually made Valuev's jab look silly for most of the fight. He could never reach "the slick" 46-year-old as he often tried faking to the body and then shot for the head. This story makes it sound like Holyfield was pummeled down the stretch:

As the fight wore on, so Valuev's reach, height, power - and perhaps most importantly, age advantage of 11 years - began to tell as he dominated the fight, finding Holyfield more often with his jab in the late rounds.

Boxing's greatness is often times defined by the arguments that follow big fights. Davies obviously saw a much different fight than say Nick Charles, who called the fight on U.S. pay-per-view, and said it was the worst decision he'd ever seen.

Photo via Getty Images

How many people called to get their $25 back? I'm sure it crossed everyone's mind who purchased the WBA heavyweight title pay-per-view fight between champ Nikolai Valuev and challenger Evander Holyfield. You think you feel bad? How do you think Holyfield feels after losing a fight (majority decision 114-114, 116-112, 115-114) where his opponent didn't land 100 punches? As phony as the fragmented heavyweight belt system is, Holyfield was still looking to accomplish something pretty impressive for a 46-year old. The loss has huge financial ramifications as well for Holyfield, who is $10-12 million in debt. He was getting $750,000 for this fight, but with a win a multimillion dollar payday was up next.

If you watched Holyfield in the ring as he awaited the decision it was almost as if he knew that he was going to get screwed. The first score announced by Michael Buffer was Guillermo Perez's 114-114 draw. The look on Holyfield's face was priceless. He knew he was screwed: 

"I can't be disappointed with the things I did in the ring. I felt like I did the things necessary to win. The judges score the fight and whatever they score it, that's what it was."

Valuev was really selling the fight afterward, complimenting Holyfield and saying it was a great fight:

"He made me work very hard for the win," said Valuev, the overwhelming favorite and underwhelming winner. "Holyfield was unbelievable with his speed. The fight was fought at a great tempo for the whole 12 rounds."

Holyfield was noncommittal on his future:

"I'm gonna have to go home and think and see what's next on the drawing board."

Unless he gets a rematch against Valuev, Holyfield will probably never get a shot at a heavyweight title again. That said, this is boxing. Never say never. Maybe Holyfield can become the first heavyweight champ in his 50s.

Photo via Getty Images

ROUNDS 1-3:

Nikolay Valuev has a 96-pound weight advantage on Evander Holyfield but he's fighting like the smaller man. Valuev has been tentative simply throwing the jab out as a feeler but rarely landing. Holyfield wasn't much more active in the opening two rounds. He threw about 15 punches in each round but landed nearly all of them. Nothing too hard but Holyfield is getting in the overhand left whenever he wants it. The crowd in Zurich is very much pro-Holyfield. They may turn soon though if there isn't more action. Analyst Al Bernstein is already saying the fight is tired and tedious.

Yahoo! Sports has Holyfield leading 30-27.

ROUNDS 4-6:

It's getting worse. The very fair-minded Bernstein is losing his cool saying Valuev's performance:

"Is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. It's atrocious."

Holyfield's movement is simply too much for the lumbering giant. Who thought they'd say that a heavyweight champ can't catch a 46-year-old? Evander keeps fighting at the same pace, throwing about 20 punches a round. Valuev simply isn't firing back and he's not closing the distance.

Yahoo! Sports has Holyfield leading 60-54.

ROUNDS 7-9:

Trainer Tommy Brooks tells Holyfield to avoid staying stationary. Holyfield is starting to slow down and getting more brave. As a result, it's allowing Valuev to throw and land more punches. But we're talking about landing nine punches as opposed to three in the early rounds. He didn't overwhelm with volume but Valuev landed enough in the seventh and eighth to grab his first rounds of the fight. The ninth may have presented us with the best two-way action of the fight. Finally, there were a few scrums.

Yahoo! Sports has Holyfield leading 88-83.

ROUNDS 10-12:

Holyfield slowed down but it still didn't motivate Valuev to throw punches in bunches and go for the knockout. I'll be generous and give the Russian the 11th and 12th rounds based on more aggression, but he never landed anything of significance or threw with any power. Valuev's corner knew he was in trouble before the final round. Cutman Malcolm Garrett screams, "You better knock this guy out!" After the fight, Valuev walks around the ring saluting the crowd; they respond with a hearty boo.

Yahoo! Sports gives the win to Holyfield 116-112.

Unbelievable! The judges give a majority decision to Valuev. He retains the WBA heavyweight title. Guillermo Perez scored it a draw, 114-114. The other judges, Pierluigi Poppi gave a lopsided 116-112 win to Valuev, and Mikael Hook had the odd score of 115-114 for Valuev.

Holyfield was understandably down after the fight saying:

"I don't think anything was lacking. I hit him more times than he hit me. I moved a lot and made him miss punches. And I fought the fight that I felt was good for me to win."

When Holyfield was asked how the Russian giant compared to other champions he's fought like Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe and Mike Tyson, this was the best he could come up with:

"It's quite different. He's a big guy. I know that he doesn't have much experience," Holyfield said about a guy who is now 50-1. "Facing someone 7-foot who's decent is difficult. He's a strong guy. He's able to do the things necessary to not get hit by a lot of punches."

Photo via Getty Images

Give the 46-year old Holyfield credit, he still works his ass off to be in the best condition possible. Hopefully, he's doing it naturally. You'll remember that Holyfield got wrapped up in the Feds investigation of online pharmacy Applied Pharmacy Services. There was a patient named Evan Fields who shared the same birthday as Holyfield and when the phone number listed was called, Holyfield answered.

This woman appears to be around 5-foot tall. Imagine what she'd look like in a photo with the 7-foot tall Nikolay Valuev.

Check back later, we'll be live blogging the WBA heavyweight title fight as Holyfield faces Valuev.

Oh sure, he's seven-feet tall and, yes, he weighs in somewhere north of 300 pounds, but in terms of actual in-ring prowess he leans far more toward Barnum and Bailey than Ali and Frazier. And though he's admittedly won seven of eight fights over the last three years -- perhaps leading to his billing as a 9-to-1 betting favorite -- the opposition he's faced is hardly head and shoulders above Holyfield, even at age 46.

Fitzsimmons builds a case based on the fact that Valuev lost to Ruslan Chagaev. Chagaev, giving away 11 inches in height, schooled Valuev with his boxing and athleticism. Is he anymore saavy in the ring than Holyfield? Maybe not.

Watch the Outside the Lines piece on Holyfield after the jump. He is in dire straits financially. ESPN reporter John Barr paints a picture of an old athlete fighting for the wrong reasons.

Fitzsimmons also says it doesn't matter if Holyfield's motivation for this fight is to pull himself from financial ruin. He simply deserves the chance because he still possesses the skills to win the fight.

It's good to see ESPN jumping on board this week with plenty of boxing coverage on PTI, Rome is Burning and Outside the Lines. There's one problem. There isn't a major fight to report on unless you think Evander Holyfield versus Nikolay Valuev is a big fight. There isn't a fight fan in the world who qualifies this as anything more than a circus.

ESPN virtually ignored the sport this year except for the Manny Pacquiao win over Oscar De La Hoya. Now we get to watch the television media look at boxing, snicker and shake its head.

Meanwhile fighters like Mikkel Kessler are sitting idle. Kessler has been passed over by HBO and Chad Dawson for a Mar. 14 fight. For some reason, we need to see Dawson fight Antonio Tarver? Dawson handled the now 40-year old Tarver easily 117-110, 117-110 and 118-109.

Kessler sent out an open letter to the media to explain that he's begging for a big fight at super middleweight or a catch weight:

I went from Denmark to America THREE TIMES in 2008 trying to drum up a big fight. I attended the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor rematch, the Bernard Hopkins-Joe Calzaghe fight and the Roy Jones-Calzaghe bout. I enjoy both Las Vegas and New York but those were business trips. My dream is to fight big fights in the United States against the best of the best. Bernard Hopkins. Joe Calzaghe. Winky Wright. Jermain Taylor. Kelly Pavlik.

Anyone of these fights would sell nicely and may also develop into a candidate for a rematch. Winky Wright should be falling all over himself to get one final solid money fight. Instead, he was set to fight something called Michi Munoz in the backwoods of Washington before injury thankfully forced a cancellation.

Six great fighters, no doubt. And, starting with ring legend Hopkins, six fighters who all refused to seriously discuss fighting me this past year. I respect all of them as boxers and as great competitors but, for some reason, I can’t get any of them to fight me. Now I know some people say I’ve been hiding in and not fighting the big names. That’s not fair and that’s not true. I regained my WBA title, which is important to me, against unbeaten Dimitri Sartison and then fought a required mandatory against Danillo Haussler. I didn’t make Haussler the mandatory challenger but I did cut him down in three rounds.

Kessler, 29, is 41-1 with 31 KOs. Aside from Calzaghe, no one has touched the guy. For American boxing audiences to be denied a chance to see this guy is a great example of why the sport is dying a slow death.

Naturally, I am extremely frustrated as I seek bigger game. I am hoping that 2009 will be different, that I will be able to match my skills in against the likes of the Big Six. I’m not here to call anyone names or issue childish insults. That’s not the Viking Warrior’s style, people know that. But Hopkins says he doesn’t want to hear my name although I’d gladly fight him at 168 pounds for my title or at a catch weight. Calzaghe beat me on points in an excellent fight and has been consistent in saying he will never give me a second chance. He’s a great one but I wish he’d change his mind. He said he never gives rematches yet he gave one to Mario Veit. It was Joe who suggested I fight Hopkins. I agree but Bernard doesn't like the idea. Unbeaten Dawson is young and unbeaten. I would fight him at super middleweight or at a catch weight but he and/or his handlers are not interested. As for Winky, I’ve been hearing his name all year, from January to December, but it’s clear he also wants no part of me. Taylor will never fight me according to his guy, Lou DiBella. I’ve given up on getting Jermain in the ring. Though he lost to Hopkins, Pavlik is still an excellent, rugged champion. He calls me a real beast and I say the same about him. That’s a bout I would really get excited about but it seems unlikely.

Hopkins seems to think Kessler would only be using him as a stepping stone. That's not accurate. Wouldn't a Dawson-Kessler fight be a great way to push both fighters further into the consciousness of the casual American fight fan? The winner could fight Hopkins. I'm also not sure that there is a great fight for Taylor on the horizon that would preclude him from facing Kessler.

I’m not a guy to shout from the rooftops but everything I’ve said here is factual. I just hope I can fill up my 2009 dance card with some or any of these reluctant but great warriors as listed above. Thanks again to all the fans, in Denmark and elsewhere, who give me such great support. Know that I appreciate it greatly!

If Kessler doesn't corral two big fights in 2009, it's another sign that boxing is likely headed for another lousy year on pay-per-view. As we speak, there may be only four fighters who can guarantee a PPV audience in excess of 200k.

Freddie Roach told a story in the post-fight about an incident at the rules meeting on weigh-in day. Joaquin Henson from the Philippine Daily Star reports that Roach was almost decked by Schaefer when an argument ensued:

"Oscar puts gauze, braided like rope, in between his fingers and sealed tight by layers of gauze and adhesive tape in bandaging for a fight,” explained Roach. “It’s against the rules to braid the gauze. But Oscar gets away with it because nobody complains. Well, he wasn’t going to get away with it this time.”

Roach said that Schaefer reacted violently to the objection. Roach said that he was surprised by Schaefer's demeanor since he knows little about boxing. He wasn't about to back down:

“Just because nobody has complained doesn’t mean it’s not against the rules,” said Roach. “I stood my ground. I knew I was right and they were wrong.”

Once a fighter, always a fighter. Roach, who probably gives away six inches in height and at least 50 lbs to Schaefer, didn't back down. He's 48 years old but the guy fight professionally 53 times. I wouldn't mess with the smallest guy out there especially if I just watched 24/7 where he was working the mits with Manny Pacquiao. I'm sure Roach would punch you in the face five times before you know what hit you.

If you were unaware HBO has a star-studded show this weekend with Wladimir Klitschko defending his heavyweight title against Hasin Rahman. The picture of  Rahman says it all. Rahman, who is coming off a ridiculous no contest, where he quit with cut against James Toney. Before that the 36-year old Rahman put himself in position to challenge for a heavyweight title with wins over Zuri Lawrence, Cerrone Fox, Dicky Ryan and Taurus Sykes.

Photo via Getty Images

There's nothing like a boxing post-fight press conference for sheer lunacy and hilarity. The post-fight presser included media members from all over the world and 500 or so fans who were "credentialed" which made the proceedings barely audible. Manny Pacquiao fans were estatic led by promoter Bob Arum and Filipino writer Recah Trinidad. But when the Philippine Inquirer's Trinidad tried to talk some trash to Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy promotion stable-mate Bernard Hopkins, Arum launched into a mini-tirade:

"We just want some clarification," said objective media member Trinidad. "You told us Manny Pacquiao would go to school but he sent Oscar to the hospital instead."

In a move remiscent of Michael Katz screaming "chicken De La Hoya" from the back of a crowded media room at a past Golden Boy fight, Trinidad (pictured on the right) then slinked down in his chair as "Brooklyn, Philippines-native" Arum scolded him:

"We're Filipinos and we don't gloat. We take pride in what Manny does but we do not gloat."

Click below to listen to the Arum/Trinidad/Hopkins exchange:

Hopkins went on to say Pacquiao was the better man.

Photo via Getty Images

Sure the folks at Golden Boy Promotions were saddened when watching their namesake go down in flames. It may be even more depressing from a business standpoint. There had to be more than a few "oh s**t, no whats" uttered when Oscar De La Hoya threw in the towell. He admitted before the fight that it was going to be a real challenge to find the next stars of boxing. But I don't want to hear it's due to a lack of young boxing talent. That's nonsense. Boxing just failed to use 2008 as a springboard to signifcantly launch those future stars in 2009.

Saturday night was a perfect example. Conservative estimates would put the pay-per-view buys around at least one million and it may have been as high as two million. That's how many total viewers, three-to-five million? The undercard featured two outstanding prospects, 122-pounder Juan Manuel Lopez (pictured on the right) and 140-pounder Victor Ortiz (pictured on the left), who are both ready for the next step. So instead of showcasing both Lopez, 25, and Ortiz, 21, against real fighters in front of the biggest audience boxing may ever see again, they were put in with tomato cans. The two fights combined didn't last two rounds. What a joke. You also had 15,001 of the most loyal ticket buyers on hand at the MGM Grand Arena. There were at best 5,000 in their seats for the two fights and those who were there, were forced to sit with no action for over 45 minutes waiting for the main event.

Don't forget about the hundreds of media members, who rarely cover boxing, who were in attendance. You think that they're running back to their editors and managers saying, "hey we need to cover this Lopez or Ortiz kid" at his next big fight in 2009? No shot.

Let's use the hypothetical to show the effect of not using the huge viewing audience. Promoter and managers aside, if you could put together a card with Lopez challenging Rafael Marquez and Ortiz going after Timothy Bradley's title would it draw more than 100,000 on PPV? Chances are slim. Name the fighters in 2009 who can guarantee a 200,000 PPV audience. I can only name three or four: Manny Pacquiao, Joe Calzaghe, Antonio Margarito, Ricky Hatton and The Klitschkos, if they fight each other. And I don't want to hear boxing promoters saying what happened? They know what they did in 2008.  

Saturday night was the end of the line for Oscar De La Hoya. Manny Pacquiao was too fast, too crafty for the 35-year old. But unlike a baseball player at the end of his career hitting .220 and somewhat protected as part of a nine-man batting order, in boxing you receive your wake-up call in front of an arena full of thousands and a television audience of millions.

It comes as no shocker that De La Hoya is now being called every name in the book. Gutless boxing fans in attendance at the MGM Grand Arena actually booed him. Some in the media are now saying that he doesn't belong in the Boxing Hall of Fame. And writers who may show up once or twice a year for a big fight are blasting him.

Tim Sullivan from the San Diego Union-Tribune said De La Hoya was never great:

The pathetic ending of a man now a shell of his former self in the ring. He is Johnny Unitas limping around, Diego Maradona a step slow, Emmitt Smith not hitting a hole with any power, Mark Spitz getting drilled in a pool in his 40s, Michael Jordan needing an open lane and some luck to dunk, Fernando Valenzuela getting rocked, Mike Tyson getting beat by Danny Williams and Kevin McBride.

Another writer actually suggested that De La Hoya cheated in prepping for the fight:(ysp:more)

Thom Loverro from Washington Times thinks that De La Hoya did something fishy to get down to 145 lbs:

Paul Gutierrez of the Sacramento Bee lists De La Hoya with the losers from Detriot:

It's a sign of the times with a struggling economy and media jobs disappearing left and right, the viciousness of the attacks on a once great boxer will continue.

De La Hoya had to give Pacquiao credit:

"Manny is a great fighter. He deserves all the credit," De La Hoya told HBO's Larry Merchant. "He fought a tremendous fight. He was the better man. He deserves everything he’s acomplished."

A shocking surprise to many, apparently De La Hoya knew this might happen.

"I'm not shocked. At this stage when you face a great fighter like Manny it's almost expected. We kept saying as long as I worked hard and trained hard. But it's a whole different story when you get in there."

De La Hoya could never deal with Pacman's speed:

"My style is to go forward and to fight. Manny bounced on his toes very well and waited for me to make the mistakes."

Oscar then sounded like it is the end of the road:

"My heart still wants to fight but when your physical doesn't respond, what can you do. I have to be smart make when I think about my future plans. We’ll see what happens. Like I said I love the sport. When it's not your night and a true champ beat you there's another day tomorrow."

Photo via Getty Images

ROUNDS 1-3:

It's been a shocking start to the superfight. Oscar De La Hoya is the bigger man but he is  lumbering over the first three rounds. Manny Pacquiao is consistently landing the left. He's got De La Hoya lunging. DLH looks more and more tentative as the fight moves along. Anytime De La Hoya has a chance to make it into a brawl by throwing punches in close he can only get off one shot. The right hand is in the DLH holster.

Yahoo! Sports has Pacquiao leading 30-27

ROUNDS 4-6:

De La Hoya looks terrible. Pacquiao gets inside and lands 4-5 punches, DLH is only able to fire off one shot. The left eye of Oscar is starting to close from the Pacman jabs. This is shaping up as a Pacquiao shutout unless De La Hoya can land a fight changing left hand. Pacquiao is getting braver. He either doesn't respect the power or knows that De La Hoya can't get off.

Yahoo! Sports has Pacquiao leading 60-54.

ROUNDS 7-9:

Pacquiao turned it up in the seventh and destroyed DLH. Oscar couldn't get any shots off until the final 15 seconds of the round. The seventh was nearly a 10-8 round for Pacquiao. It was the same story in the eighth as De La Hoya took a beating without much resistance. Pacman closed the distance and had no fear of De La Hoya's power at all. Referee Tony Weeks came to the De La Hoya corner and said, "If you keep taking punches I'm stopping the fight." Within 10 seconds, someone in the De La Hoya corner stopped the fight.

MANNY PACQUIAO WINS BY 8TH ROUND TKO!

The judges had it 80-71, 80-71 and 79-72. The Yahoo! Boxing Experts blog had it 80-72 for Pacquaio.

Pacquiao outlanded De La Hoya 224-83. Amazingly, Pacman got off 333 power punches and landed 195 (59%)! Pacquiao closed strong by outlanding DLH 97-21 over the last three rounds.

The soft-spoken Ortiz showed his "vicious" side and landed a bevy of lefts to send Jeffrey Resto to the mat three times over the course of four minutes and 13 seconds. Ortiz, the NABO junior welterweight champ, moves to 23-1-1, 18 KOs with a TKO at 1:13 of the second round. He had nothing but respect for the overmatched Resto:

"This is war, that's what I thought," Ortiz told HBO's Larry Merchant.

Ortiz continues to deliver the party line about his future saying that he'll leave it up to his management. The kid turns just 22 in January but looks ready to take on some of the elite fighters from the Top 15 at 140 lbs. It would be nice to see him matched up against the likes of Joan Guzman, Herman Ngoudjo, Ricardo Torres, Junior Witter, Randall Bailey, Lovemore N'Dou or even Paulie Malignaggi his next time out.

Enough jerking around. It's time for Juan Manuel Lopez to take the next step. He picked up another win in what amounted to a sparring session against a terrified Sergio Medina. Lopez floored Medina three times in the first round doing major damage to the body. Medina went down for the final time off a right uppercut with 1:42 left in the first. Referee Joe Cortez moved in quickly to call a halt to the massacre. Lopez (24-0, 22 KOs) is too good to be thrown in anymore with Class C fighters. He's already on some writer's pound-for-pound lists. The WBO champ at 122 must be involved in major fights in 2009.

He's proven commodity after taking out a top five fighter at the weight back in June in Daniel Ponce De Leon. Up next could be Rafael Marquez or the 122 pound king Israel Vasquez (pictured on the right w/Lopez).

The decision to put Lopez in with such a lackluster opponent robbed the casual boxing fans watching this huge pay-per-view a chance to really see how talented Lopez is and the ticket buyers in attendance at the MGM now have nothing to watch for a lengthy period of time. Victor Ortiz-Jeffrey Resto is up next but the main event won't start until roughly 11:15 p.m. ET.

Photo via Getty

Danny Jacobs was devastated when he lost in the middleweight final of U.S. Olympic trials to Shawn Estrada. The Brooklyn native was denied a trip to Beijing. He may now be saying, "big deal" since the Olympic experience was a disaster for most of the Americans. Poor coaching and infighting marred the effort. Meanwhile, Jacobs has now squeezed in 13 professional fights since his debut in Dec. of 2007.  

Jacobs (13-0, 12 KOs) overpowered another opponent in just two rounds. The 21-year-old super middleweight pummeled Victor Lares and took him out at the 2:39 mark of the second round. "The Golden Child" smashed Lares back into the corner, nailed him with a left uppercut and then glanced a left hook off of Lares' head. The Texan went down to a knee. He rose and said that he was okay but referee Jay Nady had seen enough.

In the preceding fight, junior welterweight Danny Oscar Garcia, 20, picked up his second victory in the last two weeks. "Swift" pounded Luis Alfredo Lugo for eight rounds but couldn't take him out. The Golden Boy Promotions prospect picked up a unanimous decision win (80-71, 80-72, 79-73). Amazingly, this was the second fight in seven days for Lugo who fought last weekend on the Paul Williams-Verno Phillips card. Garcia won on the undercard of the Ricky Hatton-Paulie Malignaggi card here at the MGM on Nov. 22.

Photo via Getty

It's not always easy working your way up the ladder. Jesus Manuel Rojas, a Puerto Rican junior featherweight prospect, struggled with the heavy volume from veteran Jose Angel Beranza (31-14-2). Rojas came into the fight with a perfect 13-0 record and had scored finishes in four of his last five fights. He got shutout on one card 80-72 and lost the other two 79-73 and 78-74. Rojas (pictured on the right) never seemed to put his punches together and almost completely abandoned his jab.

Adrien Broner (5-0, 5 KOs) won in dominating fashion over Scott Furney (3-7-1). It was the fourth time in five fights that the lightweight prospect from Cincinnati finished his opponent in the first round. Broner, 19, threw hard body shots from the get-go grunting on most of his punches. Furney couldn't take it anymore and the fight was stopped at the 1:14 mark of the first.

Kicking off the afternoon, junior featherweight Roberto Marroquin beat Isaac Hidalgo via a first round stoppage. The Dallas native won his fifth fight since turning pro earlier this year in January. Marroquin (pictured on the left) is a good prospect who does hold an amateur win over U.S. Olympian Gary Russell Jr.

The host property, the MGM Grand, has moved De La Hoya all the way up to -185 and the return on Pacman is +155. The over/under round prop is set at a low 9 1/2 rounds with the over a -185 favorite.

De La Hoya by decision is +120 and by knockout is +140. Pacquiao by decision is +180 while a Pacman KO is +260. The MGM is also offering betting on individual rounds with the highest payout coming at 40/1, for a Pacman knockout in the first three rounds.

There's definitely a buzz at the MGM. There were roughly 500 fans milling around just outside the entrance to the Grand Garden Arena. There also appeared to be a late push for tickets. A few hundred folks were hanging around in the lobby with the phrase , "'anyone got tickets" dominating the conversation.

Photo via Getty  

The boxing world has come to the desert to see the latest Oscar De La Hoya mega-fight. The usual dozen or so fight writers are here along with a throng of columnists from the around country. The Las Vegas Review-Journal polled the scribes. Seventeen sided with The Golden Boy mostly by knockout and only four tabbed Manny Pacquiao as the winner.

MEDIA POLL:

David Avila, Riverside Press-Enterprise -- De La Hoya by TKO 7

Ron Borges, Boston Herald -- De La Hoya by TKO 9

Nick Cafardo, Boston Globe -- Pacquiao by TKO 8

Steve Carp, Las Vegas Review-Journal -- De La Hoya by TKO 9

Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press -- De La Hoya by decision

Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times -- Pacquiao by decision

Doug Fischer, TheRing-online.com -- De La Hoya by decision

Norm Frauenheim, Arizona Republic -- De La Hoya by TKO 7

Ed Graney, Las Vegas Review-Journal -- Pacquiao by decision

Paul Gutierrez, Sacramento Bee -- De La Hoya by KO 7

Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports -- De La Hoya by TKO 6

Mark Kriegel, Foxsports.com -- De La Hoya by TKO 9

Chris Maathuis, KLAS-TV -- De La Hoya by decision

Robert Morales, Los Angeles Daily News -- De La Hoya by TKO 7

Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times -- De La Hoya by TKO 9

Dave Cokin, ESPNRadio1100 -- Pacquiao by decision

Dan Rafael, ESPN.com -- De La Hoya by TKO 7

Mike Rosenthal, TheRing-online.com -- De La Hoya by KO 10

Tim Smith, New York Daily News -- De La Hoya by KO 3

John Whisler, San Antonio Express-News -- De La Hoya by TKO 8

George Willis, New York Post -- De La Hoya by TKO 10

Total: De La Hoya 17, Pacquiao 4.

As of this morning, most of the money coming in was bet on the Pacman. The price is hovering around De La Hoya -165 with a low of -150 at Leroy's Sports Books. De La Hoya was as high as -220 in the last month at several spots in Vegas.

"I was one of those people saying why (doesn't De La Hoya pick on someone his own size)? He said he wanted to fight Margarito, so why isn't he? Margarito just proved it against Cotto, he took his will, he took his heart and he would do that to Oscar."

Arreola's come full circle on tonight's fight saying that he'll be in Sin City to check it out first hand. He thinks that Pacman has a good shot:

"You look at Manny, he's great fighter and comes to every fight prepared. Oscar didn't look that great against (Steve) Forbes. When he fought Mayweather, another smaller fighter, he gave him a hard time. I believe Manny is going to give him a hard time too. He's a smaller fighter and he throws a lot punches. And he's going to come in shape. I really think Manny has a really good chance of winning."

Click below to listen to Arreola interview (ESPNRadio1100 w/Dave Cokin):

Oscar De La Hoya tends to put a smile on the faces of Richard Schaefer and Bob Arum. Schaefer, the head of Golden Boy Promotions and Arum from Top Rank Inc., the former promoter for De La Hoya, know that DLH has always been a cash cow. But the lousy economy and underwhelming boxing pay-per-view numbers in 2008 both fight czars enter the week with some apprehension. Five days later both are saying that the PPV will do booming numbers. But does that come at the expense of the live crowd? The MGM Grand's high rollers aren't exactly beating down the door as they have in the past for mega-fights.

Bob Arum told USAToday that the fight could now grab as many as two million buys. He's basing that on tracking early buy numbers which are roughly 90% of what the 2007 De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight did when it pulled in 2.4 million buys:

"Will that hold for the country? It's like an election. Who the hell knows?" Arum said. "But we know based on those early numbers and based on experience the event will perform extremely well. If I had to guess, anywhere between 1.6 million and two million homes, which is a home run."

News isn't so cheery on the grounds of the economic battlefield in Las Vegas. The Newark Star-Ledger's Jerry Izenberg says casino A-listers have snubbed their nose at the fight:

You can have two $1500 ringside seats, two night in a luxury room, admission to the VIP post-fight party and a $100 gambling chip as a bonus. Nobody in town could remember that drastic a marketing move.

It was a good sign for Vegas on Friday when a gigantic crowd in excess of 5,000 attended the weigh-in.

Photo via Getty Images

They don't mess around in Cincinnati. The Queen City has produced great fighters like Aaron Pryor and Ezzard Charles. Most recently it pumped out Olympians Rau'shee Warren and Ricardo Williams Jr. It's a rough town and if you're not ready even the age of six, tough luck. Adrien Broner found that out quickly when he was brought to Mike Stafford's gym as a tike. Broner's father popped in to see if his boy had some talent with his fists. Adrien took to it quickly beating up another six-year-old so the guys in the gym decided to bring over a nine-year-old, who proceeded to knock the snot out of Broner. The little boy started crying but at the same time he was hooked. That nine-year-old was the future Olympian Warren. Broner (pictured as a 12-year-old with Cincy on his trunks) showed a fighting spirit and he's showing it again tonight on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight. In a throwback move, Broner will fight Scott Furney just two weeks after beating Terrance Jett on the undercard of Ricky Hatton-Paulie Malignaggi.

NOTE: Yahoo! Sports is streaming live video of tonight's undercard fights between 7:30-8:45 p.m. ET.

It's only professional fight No. 5 for the now 19-year-old. Broner did go six rounds before scoring a TKO win over Jett. Prior to that, all of his wins were first rounds knockouts. For a guy with only four fights under his belt he doesn't lack for confidence:

"It's great. Just to see all these people," Broner told Yahoo! Sports while admiring boxing's elite milling around the MGM Grand media center. "Bernard Hopkins, (Juan Manuel) Marquez over there. It's just a great experience. They're here for me too. Later down the line, I'll be the headliner, I'll be the main event."

Click below to listen to interview with Broner (ESPNRadio1100 w/Cofield):

As a pre-teen Broner looked up to the 2000 Olympian Williams Jr.:

“He's real fast. He takes good care of us. He likes to play with us. I want to be a pro someday like he is.” 

Broner still remembers that newspaper feature:

"If you look in the picture everybody had their shirts off except Ricardo Williams. He said no I'm not taking my shirt off all of them are ripped up."

Broner also learned from Williams, 27, to stay out of trouble. Williams (13-2) has fought three times in 2008 but that comes after a near three-year layoff. Williams served time in prison for trafficking. Broner says he wants to fight every month barring injury. He'd love to get a title shot in way down the road at 130 lbs.

Photo via Cincinnati Enquirer

After his win over Sergio Mora, WBC junior middleweight champ Vernon Forrest (pictured), who also a 154-pounder, said:

"Since De La Hoya is fighting Pacquiao, why not let me fight Juan Manuel Marquez (130-135 lbs.) in my next fight? It's the same thing."

Hall of Famer Carlos Palomino, a former WBA welterweight champ from 1976-79, thinks that De La Hoya gains nothing from this fight:

"If he wins, they are going to say he should have won. By any stretch of the imagination that Manny was able to outbox him and win a decision, it would be just horrible for Oscar's career. I don't know of any real fight fans that have any real interest in seeing that fight. Maybe you will have the Filipino community that will come out. It is a little guy against a big guy." 

These fighters are no different than many fans and media onlookers. The Boston Herald's Ron Borges says De La Hoya loses and his legacy is on the line. He doesn't want to become a guy who "sold a lot of tickets."

Fellow Top Rank promotion fighters Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito have said that Pacman fighting De La Hoya is ridiculous. Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez told the Long Beach Press-Telegram that it's the same as him fighting Mike Tyson.

So much of the pre-fight hype revolves around Oscar De La Hoya's size advantage over Manny Pacquiao that trainer Freddie Roach thinks the main point is being missed. He says that the Golden Boy is a mental train wreck and he's done everything he can to get into DLH's head and including stepping on the trash-talk gas pedal as the fight approaches.

Roach trained De La Hoya for his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and then he was kicked to the curb. It irked Roach because De La Hoya told him that he would never work with another trainer. And then he saw DLH telling writers that it was the trainer's fault that he didn't beat Mayweather. The 48-year old Roach, a former boxer himself, now contends that De La Hoya simply can't pull the trigger as a part-time fighter. He went as far as bringing a plastic gun to one of the media tour stops, saying it must be De La Hoya's because he can't pull the trigger.

Roach fired his own uzi during a Thursday media session at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas claiming that the physical side of things and his age are the least of De La Hoya's problems:

"I think the problem he has in fights is all mental and not physical. I've had sports psychologist who called me and wanted to help Oscar. He works hard in training, but the mental side is weak. He lacks confidence. He loses sight of the game plan."

Roach also said after 44 fights and 20-plus years in the ring that De La Hoya's boxing knowledge is amateurish:

"We would be talking and there were things that he just didn't know," Roach said. "At first I thought he was joking around, but it didn't take long to find out that he wasn't kidding. He has natural ability and he's gotten by on that natural ability."

Roach also pointed out that De La Hoya's constant battle with his confidence kills him as fights move into the later rounds:

"You see in the first round in these fights he's as tight as a drum. It's amazing to see someone with so much experience be so tight. Before our fight [against Mayweather], in the dressing room he was very tight, and I think that's part of the reason he pays for it in the later rounds."

De La Hoya has also rubbed Roach the wrong way by saying Nacho Beristain is the best trainer that he's ever worked with. Take that with a grain of salt since Bernard Fernandez of the Philly Daily News says he said the same thing about all of these guys too: Jesus Rivero, Emanuel Steward, Gil Clancy, Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Freddie Roach.

Someone will lose on Saturday night but it won't be Ricky Hatton. The world's top 140-pounder wins in every scenario as he waits to face the winner of the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight. A De La Hoya win sets up a mega-fight against Hatton and the Hitman says that he's got no problem going back to fight at 147. That's a big departure from what he said after a lackluster performance at the weight against Luis Collazo and a knockout loss against Floyd Mayweather Jr.:

"I said I would never go up to 147 again but I mean it's Oscar De La Hoya. One's moved up and one's moved down and I'm in the middle. A fight against the winner or the loser would be a good but if you're a winner you want to fight the winner."

For a pick on the fight, Hatton said he's leaning toward a De La Hoya knockout inside of seven rounds:

"Will Manny be able to get past that left jab? Manny does have fast footwork, he throws lots of punches, he does have the style but sometimes he can be quite easy to hit. Oscar does bring to the ring power that Manny has never had to deal with in his career."

Click below to listen to Hatton interview (ESPNRadio1100 w/Cofield):

Hatton's interest will really be piqued if the fight goes past seven rounds. He'll be watching closely to see if De La Hoya's gas tank quickly goes to empty.

"If he tires down the home straight then there's my incentive. I'm a body puncher and somebody who comes on stronger as the fight goes on. If he does tire like that then the last person he wants to face is Ricky Hatton."

Hatton's mindset about fighting at 147 has also changed because of the progress he saw in the win over Paulie Malignaggi. He mentioned that he tried to bulldoze his way in against Collazo and Floyd Jr. and he knows he can't do that at the weight. His new trainer Floyd Sr. has slowed him down from his prior "100 MPH" style. 

This isn't the first time in boxing that someone has moved up 15 or so pounds to take on a bigger challenger. There's a history that says Manny Pacquiao has a shot tomorrow night against Oscar De La Hoya. The most recent case where the small man shocked the world was Bernard Hopkins' move from middleweight to light heavy where he nearly posted a shutout against the champ Antonio Tarver. So why can't the lightweight do the same thing to the welterweight? BHop told Yahoo! Sports it's simple:

"The good big man beats the good small man. Pacquiao has no defense and he runs into something. Oscar's had problems chasing guys, finding guys and then executing. Pacquiao is coming to Oscar. And when he leaps, when he comes aggressively, swinging with his head up, Oscar cracks him with the left hook and the fight's over."

Hopkins says De La Hoya's skill level is far beyond all the fighters that he pulled upsets on like Felix Trinidad, Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver and Kelly Pavlik.  

Click below to listen to Hopkins interview (ESPNRadio1100 w/Cofield):

Hopkins may be headed towards full-time prognosticating and promoting. The Joe Calzaghe slaughter of Roy Jones Jr. may have taken both out of the running as future Hopkins opponents. Calzaghe feels that he has nothing left to prove and Hopkins says a fight with Jones Jr. isn't sellable: 

"Roy Jones' demeanor, he didn't seem to have that winning spirit or even a desperation spirit. (He sort of) conceded (saying) I'm just gonna make it through the 12 rounds and say it was my cut man who blew the fight because he didn't know how to fix the cut."

Without any hint that he's looking for sympathy or pressuring someone to fight him Hopkins said he may be screwed:(ysp:more)

"I think I'm forced into retirement. I believe I have one or two fights left in me that's meaningful. Star-studded fights, not for Bernard Hopkins to be some build up for somebody else that's waiting in the wing at 24, 25-years-old."

Hopkins hinted that he has little interest in fights with Chad Dawson, 26, or Mikkel Kessler, 28. And he concedes that Calzaghe may not want to take the risk against the new Hopkins who was 1000-percent more aggressive with his fighting style during the win over Pavlik.