"The Fight to Save Boxing," as Sports Illustrated called the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr. championship bout on its cover last week, turned out to be pretty lame. Mayweather fought smart -– he stayed out of trouble –- and boxed just enough to earn a split decision. And, as has happened too often in the past, De La Hoya didn't fight with any sense of intensity and faded in the later rounds.

But who needs urgency when you've got lots and lots of money? With a record 2.15 million pay-per-view buys (at $54.95 a pop), the fight generated $120 million in revenue, according to Associated Press. (AP also estimated the live gate at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at $19 million.) The all-important pay-per-view numbers beat the previous record of 1.99 million buys for the second Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield heavyweight fight (also known as the "bite fight"). It's pretty amazing that a non-heavyweight fight now owns the record; much credit goes to HBO's promotional efforts, including a compelling reality show about the fighters in training.

De La Hoya will earn a reported $45 million for his effort. That's why they call him the Golden Boy.