The next time either Oscar De La Hoya or Richard Schaefer whine about poor judging, I hope they think of Steve Forbes and Demetrius Hopkins.

The next time they complain that Golden Boy fighters can't get a fair shake in Las Vegas, I hope they remember the night that Hopkins, the Golden Boy fighter, lost about every round in the eyes of everyone except the judges who sent Forbes home last year with a highly unjust loss.

On a conference call last week, De La Hoya was asked whether he is worried about fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Sin City later in the year, given what some have viewed as a long string of decisions that have gone against the Golden Boy-promoted fighters.

De La Hoya, who, ironically enough, faces Forbes in an HBO-televised bout Saturday from the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., was further asked if he'd move his rematch with Mayweather away from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas ostensibly in an effort to guarantee more equitable judging.

"Well it's been a rocky road for

Floyd Mayweather Sr. ambled slowly out of the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas after a mid-afternoon weigh-in 13 months ago.

The buzz throughout the posh resort was strong about the upcoming super featherweight title fight scheduled for the next night between a pair of future Hall of Famers, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez.

But the colorful Mayweather was convinced the focus of attention would change in a little more than 24 hours.

Steve Forbes, Mayweather Sr. said in an almost conspiratorial tone, can fight. A largely forgotten former world champion, Forbes was scheduled to fight unbeaten prospect Demetrius Hopkins in a bout clearly designed to raise Hopkins' profile as a contender. But Mayweather had little doubt that Forbes would make Hopkins look silly.

"When he's with me, he's like a totally different fighter," the none-too-shy patriarch of the famous boxing clan said that day. "A lot of people who don't believe that are going to be shocked tomorrow night."

I run into a lot of people who tell me they used to be boxing fans. They like the sport, they say, but not the way it's run.

And then, invariably, they complain that there are too many champions and it's far too difficult to keep track of them.

While it's true that the sanctioning bodies are a large part of what is wrong with boxing — How is it that there is no WBC championship at stake, but the WBC has a rule that allowed it to take a sanction fee from Joe Calzaghe's purse on Saturday? — it's easier now than it has been for a long time to realize who the champion is in each division.

There are more unification bouts now than there have been in years and so there are more fighters who have won either the undisputed belt (that means one who has won the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF belts) or have multiple sanctioning body titles and are clearly the best in their division and are recognized as such.

Some of the fighters no longer have all of the belts they won in the ring, thanks in many cases

For months it was a joke among the media and UFC president Dana White at news conferences and conference calls.

Once White opened the floor to questions, Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press would invariably ask if and/or when the UFC would come to Canada. And White would always reply that it was in the company's plan to put on a show in Montreal.

On Saturday, after a crowd of 21,390 jammed the Bell Centre to watch UFC 83, it was clear why the talented Davidson was so persistent and why White was so agreeable about getting to Montreal.

Once there is governmental sanction in Hawaii, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois, the company will stage shows in Honolulu, New York, Boston and Chicago.

But here are five other North American cities which have not hosted a UFC card that White should seriously consider for a main show before long:

Portland, Ore.: There are a ton of mixed martial arts fans in the Pacific Northwest and the show would draw from all over the region. A card featuring one of

We've essentially hit the end of the first quarter of 2008 and it has already been a memorable year. The momentum that was built in 2007 has, thankfully, carried through to 2008.

I'm headed out for a week's vacation, so I thought this would be a good time to hand out some hardware for performances in the first four months of the year. I'll repeat this exercise at the end of the second quarter and then present my annual awards in December.

Fighter of the quarter: 1, Miguel Cotto. Even though his opposition wasn't great, it was clear Cotto has continued to work on his game in the gym and has become a more complete fighter. 2, Israel Vazquez. 3, Manny Pacquiao. 4, Antonio Margarito. 5, Nate Campbell.

Fight of the quarter: 1, Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez III. The bout was as intense as any ever held and featured incredible drama as well as phenomenal skill. 2, Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez. 3, Nate Campbell-Juan Diaz.

Prospect of the quarter: 1, Yuriorkis Gamboa. 2, Olander Solis. 3,

LAS VEGAS – There is rarely such a thing as an easy fight with Bernard Hopkins. They're not easy to fight, they're not easy to score and, often, they're not easy to watch.

And Saturday's light heavyweight title bout at the Thomas & Mack Center with Joe Calzaghe was a little bit of those at different times.

Hopkins kept dropping a right hand on Calzaghe throughout the fight, knocking him down with a shot to the nose in the first. But the fight was characterized as much by the grappling and wrestling on the inside as it was by clean punches landed.

And that made it extraordinarily difficult to score, as the varied opinion of judges Ted Gimza, Chuck Giampa and Adalaide Byrd proved.

Byrd saw it as a 114-113 victory for Hopkins, the same score as Yahoo! Sports. Gimza had it 115-112 and Giampa had it 116-111 for Calzaghe, giving him the split decision victory and a place atop both the super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.

"To be honest, I didn't box as well as I could have

LAS VEGAS -- Joe Calzaghe beat Bernard Hopkins in a split decision in their battle in Las Vegas. Yahoo! Sports had it 114-113 for Bernard Hopkins, Adalaide Byrd 114-113 for Hopkins, Chuck GIampa 116-111 for Calzaghe, Ted Gimza had it 115-112 for Calzaghe.

ROUND 1
Crowd is overwhelmingly for Calzaghe as the fight begins. Hopkins circling backward as fight begins. Hopkins lands a right to the body and they clinch. They're tied up on the ropes and throwing punches. Calzaghe goes down from a right. He seems fine. Straight right from Hopkins. Calzaghe doing little at this stage. They tie up in the center. Calzaghe jabs to the body. Calzaghe lands a right to the body.
Iole scores it 10-8, Hopkins

ROUND 2
They tie up immediately. Calzaghe still moving forward. Calzaghe lands a hook to the body and Hopkins lands an

LAS VEGAS – Bernard Hopkins, the universally recognized light heavyweight champion, meets unbeaten super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center for supremacy at 175 pounds. Here is what each man must do to win: