Well, 'Bad Blood' is almost here. Fernando Vargas and Oscar De La Hoya are scheduled to go at it next Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. And not only is it the best fight of the year (Lewis-Tyson, was the biggest 'event'), it's the most heated rivalry we've seen in awhile.

Think of Alabama-Auburn, Yankees-Red Sox, Budweiser-Miller (which is ironic since De La Hoya has a deal with 'the King of Beers' and Vargas does with 'the High Life') and the Hatfields and the McCoys. Barrera-Morales II- for as appealing a match-up as it may have been coming into it - was largely stuck in the prism of being a 'Mexican' fight. Vargas-De La Hoya transcends that with those in this country and those with any Mexican heritage in their blood. 'Bad Blood' is the Mexican-American Super Bowl.

And the emotions run deep in this fight, you either hate Fernando and love Oscar, or you despise 'the Golden Boy' and you're part of 'the Ferocious Squad', there is no neutrality in this one. You either love the cockiness and brash nature of Vargas, or the scrubbed-up corporate image that De La Hoya projects has you in his corner. De La Hoya has the model-like looks that gets him on the cover of GQ, Vargas has the rugged, street image that gets him on the cover of 'Dub' magazine. Polar opposites in many ways, but more alike than you think in certain instances.

Both De La Hoya and Vargas, as Mexican-Americans, represented the United States in the Olympic Games (De La Hoya in '92 and Vargas in '96). Both were reared in Southern California just a few hours apart. De La Hoya grew up in East Los Angeles while Vargas's roots are in Oxnard. De La Hoya, coming out of the Olympics had a huge promotional push from Top Rank, one of the game's promotional monoliths. Vargas, while not coming out with the hoopla of Oscar (because of a disappointing showing in the '96 Games) did have the sizable influence of Main Events. So it's not as if he came up from 'the wrong side of the tracks' as they say, from a promotional standpoint.

Also they have both had past or current relationships with the likes of Lou Duva and Shelly Finkel. And both have been involved in some of the biggest fights boxing has seen the last several years with the likes of Ike Quartey and Felix Trinidad. Both would down 'the Bazooka' but lose (albeit, in totally different fashion) to the power-punching Puerto Rican.

And finally, both seem to have an affinity for sushi. Which begs the question, is either of these guys 'real Mexican' as Vargas likes to say, if they're having run-ins at sushi joints in Big Bear? Seriously, every time I go to a sushi place, there seems to be more middle aged, white yuppies than actual Asians much less Mexicans. Shouldn't Vargas and De La Hoya have been running into each other at 'King Taco' or something?

But that's where the biggest difference lies according to Vargas. He, in his own words, is a 'real Mexican'. Oscar simply is not. People have asked what he means by that. I'm not sure Fernando himself could put it into words or define it himself. But to Fernando, Oscar is the antithesis of what he wants to be. To him, his adversary is a bit too scripted in his answers, to contrived in the statements he makes. While Vargas will say almost anything that comes to his head, De La Hoya answers things as if reading off of a teleprompter. While De La Hoya brings out a crowd that may drink Zinfandel and wine coolers, Vargas brings out the Corona-drinking constituents.

While Vargas stood bravely and gamely against Trinidad, De La Hoya ran away from ahead to snatch defeat at the jaws of victory. To Vargas, that is an affront to the Mexican heritage he clings to. After all, Mexican fighters aren't supposed to get on their bicycles. While Vargas's run-ins with the law are well-documented and discussed, De La Hoya's transgressions with the law seem to be shoved under the rug or ignored by the media. To Vargas, that makes De La Hoya part of the establishment that has looked down on his people. Vargas seems to have more of a problem with Oscar being a phony than for anything having to do with his ancestry or appreciation of it.

And one more thing, unlike De La Hoya, Fernando would never think of marrying a white girl (like Oscar did with 'Baywatch' babe Shanna Moakler), not that there's anything wrong with that, but that just ain't his thing. He's more Jim Brown than O.J. Simpson. But we're not sure he wouldn't marry a Puerto Rican, though. If you've seen them - you know what I'm talking about.

On the flip side, De La Hoya looks at his opponent as the kind of person that represents the lowest common denominator in his culture. And what would that be? Well, Vargas has always been proud of the fact that he bring a certain element to his fights. The type of element that has the police department in Las Vegas bringing out their gang units, juuuuust in case something might break out. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the crowd this Saturday night will be Backstreet Boys concert meets Raider game.

De La Hoya is the Latin who represents just what kind of economic power that his growing culture brings to this country. In the realm of boxing, pay-per-view events are now dominated by the Latin market below the heavyweight division. Oscar had a lot to do with that. He is the Mexican who made good and moved on up to live the American dream. To Oscar, Fernando is like the jealous one who's still in his old neighborhood that begrudges him for his success. De La Hoya can't see how anybody should rip him for moving to Bel Air - who wouldn't if they had the opportunity? Vargas only moved as far as Camarillo.

De La Hoya brings a certain attention to the game of boxing that no other boxer can. He looks at Vargas as the type of fighter who perpetuates a negative stereotype that already permeates the sport. While he may be a beacon of all that is right with the game, he looks at Vargas as someone who is in the dark.

So much alike, yet so much separates them. This fight isn't about two Mexican-Americans who dislike each other and argue about what constitutes 'realness'. What this fight is all about is two fighters that absolutely hate each other's guts in and out of the ring. And if they bring that same passion into the ring next week, it'll be a beautiful thing to behold.

After all, this is a fight, not a truce or peace treaty. While some other media members yearn for the days when fighters respected each other and shook hands and all that good stuff, it says here that it's refreshing to have two guys who have that much disdain for each other and aren't afraid to express it. I want foes in there, not friends, two guys who want to tear each other's heads off, and that is what we have with Fernando Vargas and Oscar De La Hoya.

And that's exactly why we wait in eager anticipation of September 14th.

PREDICTION TIME

So who do I like? I think this will be a very tough and competitive fight but at the end of the day I'll take Vargas in a close decision.

Bottom line is that while Vargas took some big shots from Trinidad that could still have an residual effect on him, I simply haven't been impressed with the De La Hoya I've seen above 147 pounds. As he moves up in weight (and this bout is at Vargas's turf at 154 pounds) there seems to be a diminishing return on the type of speed and power we used to see out of 'the Golden Boy'.

What is the mystery here to me is who will be affected more by their long layoffs. Vargas last fought September 22th, 2001, while De La Hoya last fought June 23rd of 2001. They may both be world-class veterans but the reality is that Vargas hasn't been that active as a fighter since 1998 (when he fought six times) and De La Hoya has had only two bouts since his June 2000 loss to Shane Mosley, which included a nine month hiatus before he KO'd Arturo Gatti last March. Will either or both of these guys take awhile to get back on track and shake off the rust in what is the biggest grudge match of their lives?

At the end of the day, I favor Vargas' natural size and underrated boxing ability (yes, he can box a little) to down Oscar in what should be an interesting fight.

MACHO'S BACK

Did anyone see the farce that was Hector Camacho Jr. this past Friday night? I don't want to waste too much time on this guy but it's clear that this guy is the male version of Mia St. John - except she may have more fortitude in the ring.

He's lucky he faced a guy like Arturo Urena - a tough as nails but skill-less fighter - or he would have been knocked out by a more dangerous foe.

Getting this guy to be ranked so highly and on HBO is one of the great promotional/con jobs ever done by Dan Goossen. I don't know if he should be proud of himself or if he should apologize.

FINAL FLURRIES

OK, so is anybody up for Winky Wright- Bronco McKart IV? Didn't think so... Someone e-mailed me the idea of having Roy Jones fighting two guys in one night. It's a novel idea until you realize that he isn't even fighting one guy a night in all reality... Back to Roy, I wonder, would Don King just let Jones have a shot at the WBA title with no strings attached if he just paid Lennox Lewis a million bucks and a Range Rover to drop his IBF title so he could have two his guys (Evander Holyfield and Chris Byrd) fight for it?... Finally, while there is a debate as to who is the game's best pound-for-pound in boxing, there's no debate in the world of college football. It's gotta be my Miami Hurricanes. Did you see how they turned Ben Hill Griffith Stadium, aka 'the Swamp' into 'Canesville' by burying the Gators? Miami goes back to the Roy Jones portion of its scheduled next week as they play Clinton Woods University, uhhh, I mean Temple.