FAST on the Versace-clad heels of the car crash of an exhibition bout between former pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jnr and YouTuber Logan Paul, another boxing great of yesteryear, Oscar De La Hoya, has announced a date and opponent for his own return to the ring in an exhibition bout.

A worrying trend has thus now been entrenched with these wildly mismatched exhibition fights that are tantamount to freak shows and unedifying spectacles rather than legitimate sporting contests.

Consider the above-mentioned Mayweather-Logan Paul event. Held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on June 6 over eight rounds with no judges present ringside and no winner declared at the end, Mayweather looked so bad it would have been a stretch to describe him as a mere shadow of his former self.