Felix and Oscar? Hopefully, Oscar won't see it as an odd coupling.

	Felix Trinidad Jr., left, lands a left to Pernell Whitaker's nose in the eighth round.

Right now, beyond Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad, we have Bob Arum versus Don King. The promoters largely responsible for boxing's recent championship gridlock now have the winners of the welterweight championship box-offs. Between King's negotiating and De La Hoya's post-fight comments, we could be in for a long wait.

Oddly enough, the least-proven of the four welterweights gave us a more exciting fight in his battle with the elusive master. Trinidad-Pernell Whitaker was a nonstop battle. De La Hoya-Ike Quartey pitted the two big hitters against each other, and was a tactical snooze-fest with the exception of the two magnificent rounds.

I thought it would be the exact opposite.

Not easy being Sweet Pea
Immediately after the fight, I began to see why Whitaker thinks he won.

Yes, I had Trinidad winning the fight. My card reads 116-113. If you hold to conventional judging these days, it would read 116-112 because of Trinidad's 10-8 advantage in the second round. That card, which gives Tito the benefit of the doubt, is two to three rounds closer than either of the three judges.

HBO's Jim Lampley just finished telling me Trinidad used Whitaker for "target practice." No wonder Whitaker thinks there's a vast, right-wing boxing conspiracy at work. He was jobbed in his loss to Jose Luis Ramirez, denied a clear win against Julio Cesar Chavez and then got "Quartey-ed" by De La Hoya. ("Quartey-ed" means to find oneself unable to win the proper amount of rounds against the money guy in the division.)

In round one, Whitaker snapped Trinidad's head with no less than eight jabs. Clean, head-snapping jabs.

In round two, Whitaker continued to outpoint the champion until he was caught by a lead right hand. A "flash" knockdown is the best way to describe it. It was a clear knockdown, but Whitaker bounced up as quickly as humanly possible and showed no ill effects thereafter. I had Whitaker winning the round. The knockdown makes it Trinidad's round, but I hesitate to automatically call it 10-8.

If I were a judge working fight cards all the time, I might be pressured into joining the flock. Even if I bow to convention, it's still 116-112. That's how Ken Morita scored it for De La Hoya over Quartey. Whitaker did not get bludgeoned!

Either way, this was a much better action fight than the previous week's bout. Even on my card, Trinidad outpointed Whitaker more decisively than De La Hoya outpointed Quartey.

Felix vs. Oscar
Both winners are the same height, and with a similar frame. Trinidad struggled to make weight at 147, but said afterward he wanted to meet De La Hoya at the weight where they are champions -- welterweight.

First of all, if Jack Klugman and Tony Randall aren't brought in to do some TV ads, somebody needs advice on marketing. Who wins the unification fight? Difficult to say.

Trinidad seems stronger, but De La Hoya gets a slight edge in hand speed. Trinidad has better footwork, but De La Hoya punches better in combination. Trinidad just passed the first big test of his career, but De La Hoya passes all tests.

After De La Hoya's heroic 12th round against Quartey, he might be more encouraged to go on the offensive against someone with power. The edge in concentration is the deciding factor. As of now, I'd go with De La Hoya.

Oscar still Golden
For the record, I had it 114-113 Quartey. I saw the ninth round as close, giving it to Quartey. So if I swing that over to De La Hoya, I have Oscar winning by a point. I'd accept either decision.

But 116-112? Ken Morita's card merits scrutiny, showing how subtle changes can swing a decision.

In the sixth round, each fighter scored near-identical knockdowns, negating each other on the scorecards. From there, Quartey was clearly dominant. Morita's card? 10-10.

De La Hoya was at his most inoffensive in round eight, though he landed one sharp right hand. Quartey nailed the champion with crisp, winging power shots. Morita's card? 10-9 De La Hoya.

Other than that, the scoring isn't vastly out of line. He even gave Quartey a 10-9 edge in that close ninth round. Slight discrepancies, but enough to tilt the score alarmingly. This from the man who had Mike Tyson leading Buster Douglas before Iron Mike (also the WBC champion at the time) was knocked out back in 1990.

From here on, Morita shouldn't get any closer to a championship fight than a cable box. Beyond that, we have three judges who agree on just three of 12 rounds. The state of judging today, if not especially low, is terribly inconsistent.

While it's open season on judges, let's give credit to some officials. Referee Mitch Halpern handled the 12th round perfectly, moving in close as Quartey was being pummelled, backing off when his presence was no longer needed.

The fight was several punches away from stoppage level for a championship (and unification level) fight, something Halpern instinctively seemed to know. It was an outstanding job during the most pivotal part of the fight.

In the IBF title fight, Benji Estevez did a decent job in a physically rough bout. I'd rate him higher if he stopped Trinidad from holding Whitaker down with his forearm and gloves. He showed common sense in Whitaker's "sit-down" moves, and handled things adequately. In this era, that's enough.

As for De La Hoya, he has a tentative fight date on May 22 with Oba Carr. Carr is a solid contender who has already lost to Trinidad (KO'd in the eighth), and to Quartey (majority decision in 12 rounds). De La Hoya is entitled to a somewhat easier title defense, but I don't have a burning desire to see if Carr is able to lose to the top three men in the division, as opposed to only the top two.

Fistic euphoria
Bottom line: Fighters at the championship level only benefit from meeting top competition. Trinidad was a welterweight champion for more than five years. Who knew?

Now, having reached some sort of reconciliation with King, he fights, and beats a man who has beaten 12 world champions (13 if you count Whitaker's win over Chavez, which you should). Now Trinidad is approaching mainstream status.

Before this month, the ESPN SportsCenter newsroom was filled with producers and anchors who could name the entire Seattle Seahawks offensive line, and they couldn't have told you who Quartey was or how his name was pronounced.

Now they know, thanks to a competitive matchup.

We've seen it among the heavyweights as well. Hasim Rahman was stopped (too quickly) by David Tua. Tua is now in line for an IBF title shot, but Rahman also made himself a top-level contender.

In March, Ike Ibeabuchi fights Chris Byrd. If they're competitive, the loser isn't a loser. The risk is worth the reward. Now if only Oscar keeps feeling that way, we'll really have a "golden" era once again.