The closer this gets, the less it feels like there's any real sense of anticipation here. Saturday night's PPV fight between former greats Roy Jones, Jr., and Felix Trinidad has been slammed in the mainstream media this week.
Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says the two fighters, "have become big-name relics living off their past."
Joe Maxse of The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, "It's too bad this bout wasn't made 10 years ago, but another version of boxing's ancient history will be on display Saturday night."
Norm Frauenheim of The Arizona Republic chimes in with this: "Truth and advertising in boxing are a little bit like Mike Tyson in the White House. The Ali-Frazier suggestion and pay-per-view price aren't shameful. Both are just over the top, so much so that it's silly."
My problem, and the reason I won't be ordering, is simple: This is Don King's idea of a Best v. Best fight. Is it any surprise that King would beg Trinidad to come out of retirement to fight the washed-up Jones in an effort to keep pace with the excellent big-name affairs that took place at the end of 2007 (Mayweather-Hatton, Cotto-Mosley, Calzaghe-Kessler, Pacquiao-Barrera), and the star-studded bouts on the early 2008 docket (Pavlik-Taylor, Marquez-Pacquiao, Hopkins-Calzaghe)?
It is a fight that speaks to Don King's perception of stardom and harkens to the seemingly dying days of the boxing pay-per-view that was flat-out not worth the pricetag.