No contest and no need to dig into prizefight records, either.

Manny Pacquiao on Friday scored his biggest, quickest off-ring knockout when he formally agreed to fight the fight of the decade against a bigger, richer, glossier Oscar de la Hoya.

So what if it has the makings of a mismatch, in favor of the Golden Boy, right at the start?

Yes, the only edge Pacquiao could visibly bring inside the ring at MGM Grand is his age.

At 29, the smaller, shorter but reputedly quicker Pacquiao will not be carrying in his legs the burden of the years, rust and cobwebs that have been predicted to hobble down the 34-year-old De la Hoya come fight time on Dec. 6.

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Experts will predictably be divided on how the fight would shape up and finish.

The biggest letdown, of course, is the risk of the bout not being scored based on superb athleticism.

There’s the great danger of the fight being decided mainly on physical disparity.

It could be that our man is too small or the enemy is too old and tired.

Could it be that Pacquiao would prevail mainly because De la Hoya is already slower, softer than the famed Golden Boy the world has learned to adore?

Or it could also turn out that De la Hoya, despite the visible slide in his abilities in recent fights, has one precious, golden final blast that could erase and offset Pacquiao’s perceived advantage.

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There will be endless debates.

But there’s no assurance the fight will go to the younger but quicker or, God forbid, to the older but bigger, warrior.

It will be war and the winner will be the smarter and, definitely, the braver one who would risk everything to prevail.

There will be a clash of two schools, between combatants of contrasting build, prowess and lifestyles.

Based on available ability and achievement, the sensational Pacquiao would draw enough wagers to his camp.

But it goes without saying that De la Hoya could still swing it riding on the intangibles.

In fact, the strongest weapons De la Hoya could bring into the fight may not exactly be that worn-out, limited artillery Pacquiao and his trainer have gleefully observed and dismissed.

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Anyway, going to the latest rare knockout Pacquiao has scored, the feat also helped our disgraced national sports leaders.

While we were waiting for a bigger event, not necessarily another tragedy, to overlap the dismal, discouraging showing of the Philippine contingent in the Beijing Games, Pacquiao handily provided a festive atmosphere that definitely soothed frustrated Filipino sports fans both here and abroad.

Pacquiao has momentarily provided excitement to a nation that had prayed and hoped for at least a medal from the Olympics but which was instead repaid with dismal setbacks in the Beijing battles.

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Manny Pacquiao, just like Barack Obama, did make history by simply signing up for the fight against Oscar de la Hoya.

In the process, Pacquiao swept under the rug the anomaly of the failed Philippine mission to the Beijing Olympics.

Of course, the biggest beneficiaries are again the incompetent national sports leaders who have refused to learn from their mistakes.

These same sports officials, no better than village quacks, offered a new set of cures and promises but, with no hint of change we can believe in, have also assured themselves of another all-expenses paid excursion to the next Olympics in Britain.

Long live Manny Pacquiao, Philippine pride and savior of shamed sports leaders.