Or if we had fighters of the calibre of Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler currently plying their trade.

BBC: US boxing faces up to change

Arum continued an indefatigable and sometimes confrontational career now in its sixth decade, with stints promoting fighters from Marvin Hagler and Robert Duran to Julio Cesar Chavez and current champion Manny Pacquiao.

WSJ: Jason Gay: Taking a Ride With Boxing's Big Cheese

"We're bringing boxing back to its roots, " says HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg, who favors a return to a 1980s model where only big fights featuring the likes of Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard were deemed worthy of closed-circuit status (closed-circuit theater and arena telecasts being the forerunner of today's pay-per-view).

FORBES: Boxing