Michael Ventre

Ah, Vegas in the springtime. It conjures wistful memories of a man biting off the ear of another, of gunshot sounds reverberating through casinos, of a crackpot with a kite crashing an outdoor arena.

Those images and more swirl like a cyclone of pugilistic excess, but primarily because they involve members of the heavyweight class. Las Vegas has always been boxing’s home office, and heavyweights have always been its most honored employees.

But Saturday, the self-proclaimed Biggest Fight Ever takes place at the MGM Grand, involving Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr., with De La Hoya’s WBC super welterweight title on the line. That’s 154 pounds each, hardly the behemoths like Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield, or Holyfield-Riddick Bowe, that traditionally siphon cash from the pay-per-view reservoirs.

Obviously there have been many, many fights involving smaller men over the years that have filled the arenas with celebrities, with bejeweled high rollers and their fetching dates. Yet this one comes at a precarious time in the fight game.

Mayweather defeats De La Hoya      Mayweather: De La Hoya can call about rematch Opinion: Good fight gave boxing a great night Mayweather wins by split decision |   Images Round-by-round scoring from Associated Press Vote: Who do you think won? Want a rematch? What’s next for boxing after big fight? |   Discuss

This just might be the last great bout.

De La Hoya, 34, and Mayweather, 30, no doubt will rack up the loot. They have illustrious names, and they have the credentials to go with them. The live gate alone generated $19 million. At $54.95 per pop on HBO PPV, it should be the highest-grossing non-heavyweight fight in history. This should indeed be a fight that lives up to the hype.

And despite the fact that De La Hoya had suggested this might be his last bout, the words “Don’t make me laugh” spring to mind. Oscar is fighting because he is no different than any prizefighter: He covets the prize. If it were just glory, he could retire now. Indeed, he has already backtracked, telling some interviewers that he would fight on. Mayweather also has said he wanted to quit after this fight, at his peak. That stance, of course, is subject to change if promoters wave enough money in his face.

Even if there is a De La Hoya-Mayweather II, that would only represent a temporary reprieve. Boxing is a niche sport that is getting nichier by the day.

The two most notable heavyweights right now are Wladimir Klitschko and Shannon Briggs, the IBF and WBO champs, respectively. How many fans would pay $54.95 to see them square off on pay per view? Five? Six? Lennox Lewis is retired, and Holyfield is very, very old.

A quick perusal of the other classes — from cruiserweight (200 pounds) to strawweight (105 pounds) — looks like the undercard for the local Golden Gloves, a list of no-names on a frayed poster tacked to a gym wall with peeling paint. Boxing thrives on the mighty and the exciting, but there are precious few individuals with those ingredients.