By Ed Morrone

I don’t know a whole heck of a lot about boxing, but I know this: Floyd Mayweather is going to beat Oscar De La Hoya when two of the greatest to ever put on a pair of gloves meet in Las Vegas on Saturday night. In fact, scratch that. Mayweather is going to destroy him. Batter him. Embarrass him. Call it whatever you want to…that’s what Mayweather is going to do to De La Hoya.

It has become one of the most anticipated fights of all time, one that even has non-boxing aficionados frothing at the mouth, but in reality it shouldn’t be. The great fights are usually back-and-forth bouts, ones where both fighters push each other to the limit into the late rounds. Unfortunately, this one probably won’t be like that at all. Fans wanting to see a 12-round slugfest should go watch one of the Rocky movies.

I hope it’s a good one, I really do, but let’s face the facts here. Mayweather is stronger than De La Hoya. He’s faster. He’s four years younger. He’s also never lost a fight. In 37 career fights, he’s still perfect, so why on earth would that stop now? He’s ready to retire, and if you’ve ever heard him talk, you have to know the only place Mayweather will go out on is on top.

He’s said this will probably be his last fight, so you know he’s going to be more amped up than a five-year old child that’s just eaten an entire bag of Pixie Stix. If you’ve read any of the coverage leading up to the fight or happened to catch the HBO special “De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7,” you know Mayweather is also ready. This isn’t to say that De La Hoya isn’t, because he knows he’s the underdog and he’s responding by getting into perhaps the best shape he’s ever been in. But he’s also got that Hollywood vibe to him, and while he’s on the phone with George Lopez and Usher making sure they have their tickets to the fight, Mayweather is in the gym bloodying his new sparring partner.

And to say Mayweather has the confidence edge going in would be the world’s grossest understatement. In fact, there probably hasn’t been a more arrogant, full-of-himself athlete on Mayweather’s level since Muhammad Ali, who I’m sure Mayweather sees shades of himself in. But as soon as you want to get angry at him for being so cocky you quickly remember this: he backs it up. Probably better than anyone since Michael Jordan. When Mayweather says the fight is going to be “a massacre,” you tend to agree with him because again, he’s never lost before, so why would he start now when the stage is at its biggest?

He’s also got the help on his side. Mayweather is trained by his uncle, Roger, a former two-division world champion and probably the only man on this earth that is scarier than his nephew. Also in Mayweather’s corner is his father, Floyd Sr., who used to be De La Hoya’s trainer before De La Hoya didn’t bring him back thinking that Floyd Sr. couldn’t do his job right knowing he’d be going against his son. Floyd Sr. is also a former welterweight contender.

It’s probably unfair to dismiss De La Hoya so quickly, considering he’s one of the greatest boxers of his generation (the $33 million purse he’s collecting for this fight reflects that fact) as well as the fact that it’s his belt on the line here.

But Mayweather is just too good, too strong, too fast…basically too much to handle for De La Hoya. Mayweather is so good that this fight most likely has no chance to live up to its hype, but that’s OK as long as you don’t expect too much once Saturday night rolls around.

The only thing anyone should expect is yet another victory for Floyd Mayweather Jr. It doesn’t take an expert to figure that one out.