When Southern California's favorite Golden Boy makes one of his final appearances in the ring tonight, he'll be doing so in front of fans who watched him grow from an adolescent with lightning reflexes to a glowing sports icon.

As your fairly typical American male sports fan, Noel Jones remembers once watching ABC's "Wide World of Sports" in the 1970s, impatiently waiting for a boxing match to begin.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- It's Saturday night, and All Stars Sports Bar and Grill in Deerfield Beach, Fla., is packed with fans watching Anderson Silva beat Dan Henderson with a rear naked choke submission in UFC 82.

ANSONIA --- It is a good thing we are loaded with sports icons around here, because we are losing them at an alarming rate. Last week we lost another. His name was Willis Greene.

(JUNE 3) Few sports rely as heavily on the income derived from betting as the sport of boxing. Since the very beginning of the profession, boxing has existed largely because people are willing to bet on the outcome.