This is not an easy column to write. I’m a fan, and I don’t want to be guilty of piling on or maybe more appropriately, to kick a man when he’s down. But, in a little more than a week, I’ve heard the terms “Great” and “Future Hall of Famer” used with increasing frequency in describing Oscar De La Hoya and Roy Jones Jr. in the wake of their recent knockout losses. My position is that neither should count on a free pass to the hallowed hall in Canastota N.Y. They are good fighters, but not great. They might belong in the Merrill Lynch hall of fame, but do they truly belong in the hall that houses Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Willie Pep, and Archie Moore, among other undisputed greats?

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Most fight fans are justifiably salivating on the prospect of action and drama in matchups such as this past weekend’s Hopkins- De La Hoya, and upcoming matchups of Jones Jr. -Glen Johnson, and Trinidad- Mayorga, particularly coming within a two week period as they do. As a scribe as well as a fan, I eagerly await Kostya Tzsyu- Sharmba Mitchell, Winky Wright- Sugar Shane Mosely, the November 13 th extravaganza with Bryd-McCline, Ruiz-Golotta, and Hasim Rahman, and now the November 27 th rubber match with Morrales and Barrera.

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