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By Jake Donovan - By the end of 2008, boxing will have most likely lost its two biggest draws. Boxing's greatest cash cow, Oscar de la Hoya insists his exit plan calls for only one more fight this year, at which point he will join the sport's second biggest PPV star, Floyd Mayweather Jr, in retirement.
Whether or not either or both of they decide to permanently remain on the sidelines remains to be seen. Boxing needs to treat it, at the very least, as a warning sign that new blockbusters are needed.
They needn't look any further than Las Vegas for the first contestant to fill the void.
Manny Pacquiao has already replaced Mayweather at the top spot of many pound-for-pound lists, if only by default. He's already putting up superstar numbers, and not just by lower weight standards; each his past five HBO-promoted pay-per-view cards have pulled in at least 300,000 buys, with the 400,000 buys for the Juan Manuel Marquez rematch this past March setting an all-time box office record for fights below welterweight. [details]
Whether or not either or both of they decide to permanently remain on the sidelines remains to be seen. Boxing needs to treat it, at the very least, as a warning sign that new blockbusters are needed.
They needn't look any further than Las Vegas for the first contestant to fill the void.
Manny Pacquiao has already replaced Mayweather at the top spot of many pound-for-pound lists, if only by default. He's already putting up superstar numbers, and not just by lower weight standards; each his past five HBO-promoted pay-per-view cards have pulled in at least 300,000 buys, with the 400,000 buys for the Juan Manuel Marquez rematch this past March setting an all-time box office record for fights below welterweight. [details]
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