By Simon Austin

The tagline for the upcoming superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Oscar de la Hoya is "The World Awaits".

No-one does hyperbole better than a US boxing promoter, but in this case it seems justified.

De la Hoya has won world titles at six different weights and is dubbed the "Golden Boy" of US boxing after capturing the nation's hearts at the 1992 Olympics.

His challenger is widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet, a four-weight world champion unbeaten in 37 professional bouts.

Some of the daily papers will not even be sending a correspondent to the fight Tim Smith Boxing columnist, New York Daily News

Tickets for the WBC light middleweight fight sold out in an hour and generated a record �9.6m, surpassing the �8.5m mark set by Lennox Lewis's second fight against Evander Holyfield in November 1999.

Two million people are expected to pay $50 apiece to watch the fight on pay-per-view television, probably making it the highest-grossing fight of all time.

But will it be enough to rejuvenate a flagging sport?

Tim Smith, boxing columnist for the New York Daily News, says boxing is at its lowest ebb since he started covering the sport in 1982.

"Boxing is really suffering here," he told BBC Sport. "A lot of the younger generation are now watching mixed martial arts.

606: DEBATE Does this fight justify the hype?

"And big, athletic kids from inner-city areas are now turning to basketball and (American) football instead of their local boxing club."

The hope is that Mayweather v De la Hoya can put this right.

All the ingredients are there for it to be one of the great fights. It is being billed as good v bad, the Golden Boy against the brash, arrogant braggart.

De La Hoya and his wife, the Puerto Rican singer Millie Corretjer

De la Hoya gained his nickname when he dedicated his 1992 Olympic Gold to his mother, who had died of cancer shortly before the Games.

The 34-year-old is a devoted family man who grew up in the tough East side of Los Angeles. He has tried to use his name and fortune to help the area, opening youth centres, high schools and cancer hospitals.

In contrast, his nemesis has a conviction for domestic violence, boasts about his wealth and "bling" and seems to relish his bad-boy reputation.

Mayweather's controversial family add extra spice to the contest.

His father, Floyd snr, trained De la Hoya until the start of this year, and had no qualms about preparing the American to fight his son.

Now he is back in Floyd jnr's camp, but only after De la Hoya refused to pay him the �1m he had demanded for the fight.

The Mayweathers have always had a tempestuous relationship. Floyd snr, who was given a five-year sentence for drug trafficking in the late 1990s, trained and managed his son until 1998, when Floyd jnr threw his father out of his house.

Floyd jnr has been trained by his uncle Roger - who doesn't speak to his brother, Floyd snr - since 2000, which must have made for an interesting training camp.

De La Hoya titles WBO super featherweight WBO/IBF lightweight WBC light welterweight WBC/IBF welterweight WBC/WBA light middleweight WBO middleweight Mayweather titles WBC super featherweight WBC lightweight WBC light welterweight WBC/IBF welterweight

There is also genuine animosity between De la Hoya and Mayweather.

Smith says: "Floyd does not respect De la Hoya as a boxer and resents the fact he's earned so much more money than he has (De la Hoya is estimated to have earned �75m to date).

"He thinks he's just got a good promoter and was lucky that the 1992 Olympics were the last to be shown on prime time in the States."

De la Hoya's antipathy, meanwhile, is born of a lack of respect on Mayweather's part.

It is true that De la Hoya's wealth dwarfs Mayweather's. He has a huge following among the Hispanic community in the US and has already had 17 pay-per-view fights, yielding �245m.

In contrast, Mayweather's arrogance and braggadocio have alienated some fans, a fact which the fighter himself now realises.

His promoter, Bob Arum, says: "Now Floyd realises the reason Oscar was making so much money was because he could fill arenas.

"Oscar was popular. You can be the best fighter in the world, but that doesn't mean you are going to make the greatest amount of money. There's no merit system here."

American cable network HBO has been building up to the fight with a weekly reality show called 24/7.

Mayweather is not prone to introspection or self-doubt

The fighters also took part in an 11-city promotional tour and engaged in the now obligatory scuffle on stage in New York.

So all the ingredients for a compelling, captivating fight are there. Yet Smith does not think it is enough to revitalise boxing overnight.

"The long-term health of the sport hinges on the heavyweight division," he says.

"Without an American undisputed heavyweight champion, I don't think interest will be rejuvenated.

"The average man in the street cannot currently identify any of the current heavyweight title holders.

"Some of the daily papers from major cities won't even be sending a correspondent to the Mayweather-De la Hoya fight.

"The only way we will get the fight on the back page of our paper is if Mayweather knocks out De la Hoya and we get a great picture.

"And I don't think that will happen."