The long awaited super fight between Oscar DeLa Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is finally over.  It was a pretty good match up as both fighters gave their best in front of a packed house and pay-per-view audience.  In my opinion, Mayweather Jr. outboxed De La Hoya to earn the split decision victory.  

I’m a longtime fan of Oscar De La Hoya.  His many accomplishments and mannerisms have been a positive influenence to the sport.  Oscar represents a dying breed of marketable boxers in a sport filled with shady promoters, alphabet organizations and less than credible champions. 

Where does boxing go from here?  Most sports fans really don’t care about the sport anymore.  Plus, the rise of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is successfully catering to a younger demographic that was virtually ignored by boxing.  Boxing will always have a solid Latino and Hardcore fan base to keep it sustainable.  But if the sport wants to achieve greatness again, it must recapture the hearts of a mainstream fanbase.  Unfortunately, given the current structure and power base, any positive change will be very slow.

In due time, we’ll eventually find out if boxing can once again capture the imagination of mainstream fans.  It has too much of a history and a loyal following to simply die.  But right now, the sport needs to repair itself badly if it ever wants to achieve greatness and class commonly associated with Oscar De La Hoya.