How quickly things can change. Before Saturday night, it was thought that Oscar De La Hoya was on the ascent while Shane Mosley was on the decline, about to hit rock bottom, when he faced "the Golden Boy" at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

But instead of hitting "ground zero," Mosley was instead able to out-slug his way to another victory over De La Hoya.

Mosley now finds himself in a position quite similar to the one he was in after his initial conquest of De La Hoya in 2000. De La Hoya, after another bitter defeat, now finds himself knocked off his lofty perch with some questions to answer but still the game's biggest draw.

"Oscar is no longer the 800-pound gorilla," said Larry Merchant of HBO Sports, who was ringside for both Mosley-De La Hoya fights, "but he's still a 400-pound gorilla and probably the biggest gorilla out there, still."

This is true. Saturday nightıs event was a box-office knockout. The show was a complete sellout with more than 16,000 tickets sold for over $11 million and the pay-per-view sales are expected to reach near 1 million. The bottom line: If and when De La Hoya should fight again, he will be able to command more money than any other fighter in the marketplace.

While he may stay clear of Mosley for a while, there are still attractive fights for him, like a Fernando Vargas (a rematch of their closely contested battle last September). The reality is that no matter whom he fights, whether it's Mosley, Vargas or Yory Boy Campas, De La Hoya fights have become more than prizefights, they've become big events.

You can be sure that whenever he fights again, there will be no problems in finding capable and attractive opponents who would be willing and able to make the biggest paydays of their careers.

It's the power of Oscar.

On the flipside, Shane Mosley doesn't command that type of value. For all his skills and talent, he never has been a box-office draw. Who can forget the sight of him coming off his first win against De La Hoya by facing Antonio Diaz at the 5,000-seat "Theater" of Madison Square Garden and then in a ballroom at Caesars Palace Las Vegas against Shannon Taylor in front of 2,000 people.

But what also hurt Mosley back then was reluctance to take on a better grade of opposition. This time around, you get the sense they won't squander the opportunity.

"Unlike earlier in his career after the first fight with De La Hoya, I think now he should just be looking for the major paydays," Merchant said of what Mosley might do next.

Major paydays most likely would come against the likes of Vargas, Ricardo Mayorga and even undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins. But while those are intriguing matchups, they don't have the crossover appeal that De La Hoya fights have. Part of the battle now will come from raising Mosley's profile outside the ring.

"I want to bring him to L.A. and do like a media round-table with him," said his promoter, Gary Shaw. "I want to bring him to the L.A. Times. I'm going to bring him to Washington probably next week, sit down with the editors, and USA Today and not just with the sportswriters. I want to do an HBO party for him."

The bottom line is that Mosley must get the most out of this victory, something that did not happen last time.

"Definitely," Mosley agreed. "I really want to capitalize on this victory and make sure that I get all that I deserve."

What was negotiated for this rematch was a certain guarantee that Mosley -- win or lose -- would be guaranteed a certain amount of money for his next bout after his rematch. Needless to say, with the win, his guaranteed minimum will be much higher.

"Suffice it to say that Shane's going to make more money than he's ever made and he's now 'The Man' in boxing," said his attorney, Judd Burstein.

Who knows whether he'll ever be "The Man," because the bottom line is that could still be the guy who he's defeated twice. And while bouts against Vargas, Mayorga and Hopkins would be lucrative, they most likely wouldn't bring him the guaranteed $4.5 million he got this past weekend, with pay-per-view upside.

Maybe, juuuust maybe, Shane needs to fight Oscar one more time.