Here’s the million dollar question. Ready? Without consulting the internet, ring magazine or television programming, who’s the WBC Heavyweight Champion of the world? Need a minute? I’ll wait….

Samuel Peter. Ever heard of him? Of course you haven’t. Not to say that the 30-1 fighter isn’t a legitimate champion but at the same time, he isn’t boosting Pay-Per-View revenue either.

Boxing is currently in a state of disarray and as a result, it’s fallen to the bottom of the sports totem pole, somewhere in between Tennis and the WNBA. (However with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal recently putting on the greatest tennis match of all time, and the WNBA clutching to the back of Candace Parker’s jersey, boxing may be in worse shape than even I thought.)

Let’s set aside the damaging effects of having 4 sanctioning bodies (IBF, WBO, WBC, WBA) with different champions at every weight class with different mandatory challengers.

Set aside the effects of competing promoters with competing interests that as of late, have had no regard for which fights the boxing community would like to see. Because even with these issues, which have been around a long time, the star power of the sport has been able to uplift and carry it through the rough times. Well what happens when the sport runs out of stars? Let’s do a quick rundown of who’s doing the heavy lifting.

Oscar De la Hoya is getting ready to turn in his million dollar gloves for a billion dollar business. With his last fight scheduled for December, Promoter Oscar is going to find out if it’s harder to carry his sport, wearing a suit on than it was with trunks.

The best pound for pound fighter in the world, Floyd Mayweather Jr, who recently announced retirement, has already shown us, he’d rather dance with the stars than fight any.

Brooklyn Native, Zab Judah continued his run of confusing and disturbing behavior by crashing through a bathroom window, injuring himself and forcing a cancellation of a potential big money fight with Shane Mosley.

In all likelihood, the fight will be rescheduled, but Mosley, who’s closely approaching 86, is beginning to age in between rounds, right before our very eyes.

British Star, Joe Calzaghe, 45-0, would rather fight a slow, aging fox in Roy Jones Jr, than a young lion in middleweight champion, Kelly Pavlik. Eventually, Kelly is going to have to hold a “will fight for free” sign outside of Madison Square Garden in order to get a legitimate challenge to his middleweight throne.

Manny Pacquiao, the exciting Filipino lightweight champ is so big in the Philippines that a future in politics is all but imminent. Unfortunately, here in the US, the only Manny we know plays for the Red Sox, and the nickname “Pac Man” is only synonymous with making it rain in Strip Clubs.

IBF/WBO Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko’s only commercial upside is how comparable he is to the Russian in Rocky 4.

As great a fighter as Welterweight Miguel Cotto is, he always seems to be heavily medicated in every interview he gives.

Jermaine Taylor is as big as Bill Clinton in Arkansas but the further removed we are from his two notable wins over Bernard Hopkins, the less people in the other 49 states care.

So what’s left? As unexciting a fight as it may have been, Mayweather/De La Hoya II was necessary for the sport. With Boxing’s two biggest stars walking out the door in 2008, 2009 looks to be a very bleak year for the sport.

MMA creates new stars every 3-4 months. A reality show, television deals, commercials, and appearances have all heightened name recognition and visibility for its new stars.

Boxing needs a new face, because pretty soon, we won’t be able to recognize any of the ones it has left.