Boxing hits the canvas

I asked a friend of mine yesterday what his plans were for the weekend. He said he's going to a bar to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto boxing match. To be honest, I didn't know there was a big fight this weekend, and that's because, for me, boxing has been down well past the 10 count.

I can't remember the last time I had a vested interest in a boxing match. I think it was Ward-Gatti III, and that's only because I'm from the Lowell area and followed the career of Micky Ward. The point is, there hasn't been a marquee fight on tap in at least 10 years.

While I think it's brutal and a little savage, MMA and Ultimate Fighting is taking over, and it's a bit sad to see. The sweet science of boxing is now No. 2 on the list because there hasn't been that charismatic fighter in years. The Mike Tyson, the Evander Holyfield, even the Lenox Lewis. Now we have the Klitchko brothers.

And the fact that there are nine different belts, I don't know who the "world champion" is anymore. That used to be an easy question to answer.

Boxing had a good run, but those days have been KO'd.