Thanks to Tommy Z, you can't overhype this undercard

He was raised to go to Notre Dame. He was raised to be a Catholic. He was raised to do a good thing.
--Ed Zbikowski

The convergence arrives Saturday night, at not only the mecca of boxing, but also the mecca of sports.

New York. Madison Square Garden.

Tom Zbikowski put in his time in the gym. Now it's time to fight. (AP)

A Notre Dame safety boxing there as ... a lark? No. It's much more than that. So much more that you can make the case for this being the boxing story of the year. No, college football story of the year.

No, dare we say, sports story of the year.

Sorry Barry, Jason. We're talking convergence ...

The new Tillman

Tom Zbikowski is the perfect storm that perhaps only a boxing promoter could capitalize on. It's got race. It's got pathos. It's got crossover appeal. A tough white kid from the Chicago suburbs with a -ski at the end of his name.

It's old Notre Dame. It's new HBO. It could be worth a mint to all parties even if Tommy Z never throws another punch after Saturday.

If he's good at boxing, he has a real pro future. Watch out.

The kid started fighting at age 9, has had 90 amateur bouts and can't quite decide which blood sport he likes more -- football or boxing.

"It's hard to say right now," he said.

So what kind of NFL prospect is Tommy Z? He is a third-team All-American safety who might be better as a punt returner. But for all his talents, Zbikowski did play in a secondary that was part of the 14th-worst pass defense in the nation, ranked below winless New Mexico State.