No matter who wins, there won't be a loser.

	Trinidad pinned the first loss on De La Hoya last year and now moves up in weight.

When David Reid and Felix Trinidad fight for the WBA junior middleweight title Friday night at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, there won't be much more on the line aside from the belt and the money.

Sure, the winner will have an impressive victory on his resume. But this bout clearly is a no-lose situation.

What Reid-Trinidad does, regardless of the outcome, is set boxing up to be in its greatest shape since the 1980s, when Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran swapped out like square-dance partners.

And round and round they went, creating one of the most glorious times in boxing history.

That can happen again.

There are so many major fighters, in addition to Reid and Trinidad, hovering around the same weight (147-154 pounds): Oscar De La Hoya, Fernando Vargas, Shane Mosley, Kostya Tszyu.

Any or all of these guys could fight each other for big money. Factor in sequels and trilogies and the dollars are enough to retire on 32 times over.

Even the second-tier fighters in this proposed mix, such as WBC super welterweight champ Francisco Castillejo, WBA welterweight champ James Page and the apparently forgotten Ike Quartey, would make exciting opponents.

All the above names seem willing to fight each other, and the most common excuse for them not to -- different promoters who can't seem to compromise -- isn't as valid as it used to be. Don King, Trinidad's promoter, played nice with Bob Arum (De La Hoya's) and Dan Goossen (Reid's) to get deals done.

Such harmony was put in motion by the events stemming from Trinidad's lukewarm victory over De La Hoya last September.

De La Hoya obviously was the better fighter that night, but he ran in the final rounds, giving the judges plenty of reason to award Trinidad the decision. But in the aftermath, Trinidad became a disappointed champion. He is barely more famous than before his win, while De La Hoya continues his reign as the most popular non-heavyweight fighter in the world.

Trinidad was open for a rematch, but De La Hoya didn't seem to care much. The Golden Boy knew he remained The Man, even in defeat. He and Arum refused to cater to King's lucrative demands for another bout.

That opened the door for Reid, and Goossen closed the deal that caught much of the boxing world by surprise. Fans were either thinking about De La Hoya-Trinidad II or assuming Trinidad would take on a pantywaist for his first title defense. But moving up to fight Reid? A champion and an Olympic gold medalist? That's pretty bold.

Usually when a fight this big comes along, the boxing landscape depends on its outcome, but not here.

Now that De La Hoya has a loss, it doesn't matter if anyone else does or not. Even though both fighters are undefeated -- Trinidad is 36-0 with 30 knockouts, while Reid is 14-0 with 7 KOs -- there are enough legitimate excuses to absorb some of the first-loss shock.

Reid: This is the guy who beat Oscar! He's an undefeated champion!

Trinidad: I was coming up in weight! He's an undefeated champion!

(An aside: Many people are going out of their way to address the issue of Reid not being able to win a decision based on Trinidad's win over De La Hoya. But don't discount the notion that the judges might subconsciously score the fight the opposite way because of the controversy surrounding Trinidad's last fight, much the same way they made good in Lennox Lewis' victory over Evander Holyfield in their rematch.)

Inroads already have been made for De La Hoya, coming off a seventh-round knockout of mandatory challenger Derrell Coley last Saturday, to fight either Trinidad or Mosley.

Vargas, the IBF junior middleweight champ, also figures prominently in this equation. Vargas, who medaled in the 1996 Olympics, has been extremely vocal in challenging former teammate Reid and fellow Southern Californian De La Hoya, with whom he shares personal bitterness. Both fights would be blockbusters.

Reid, win or lose Friday night, also factors into the De La Hoya sweepstakes based on the Trinidad link.

That's how it worked in the 1980s. If a fighter beat the man who beat the man, then eventually the man who lost to the man had a chance to avenge himself by beating the new man.

It makes sense, and it makes good boxing.

Tim Graham is a veteran boxing writer who pens a bi-weekly column for ESPN.com.