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03/10/2006 Archived Entry: "Mayorga’s Act is Tired and Out of Line"
Mayorga’s Act is Tired and Out of Line
By Juan C. Ayllon
Photo by Richie Maldonado
Ricardo Mayorga
When Ricardo Mayorga first stormed the boxing limelight by crushing then World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association Welterweight Champion Vernon Forrest in the third round, his hubris was welcome. Facing a boxer/puncher who all but dismantled an undefeated Shane Mosley twice previously, Mayorga disregarded defense as he welcomed blows to the head, and took him apart in a manner worthy of a young Mike Tyson.
The fact that he lit up a cigarette afterwards only added to his mystique. Here was a fighter that not only tipped conventional wisdom on its ear, but he climbed atop, performed the Macarena, lit one up and, satiated, ground his cigarette butt into it.
We loved it. With no dominant heavyweight transcending—and thus lifting—the sport of boxing, we looked to the lower weight classes and saw a potential savior in the making.
Some say that there’s a black lining to every silver cloud.
In his case, losing his title to fleet footed boxer Cory Spinks in December 2003 was a minor setback. His image as a durable, macho punching machine remained. After all, Spinks tapped and ran his way to a decision, or so they said.
However, as with Mike Tyson before him, a rape charge soon surfaced. In September 2004, Mayorga was accused of raping a prostitute in Managua. True, he was cleared of charges in December of the same year. Never the less, in May 2005, the Appeals Court of Managua ordered a new trial due to irregularities. Through the use of a good lawyer, it appeared that he had dodged the bullet. Still the specter loomed.
There was an alleged brawl with former Featherweight, Super Featherweight and Lightweight champion Alexis Arguello, a frail guy who was in his 50’s at the time. That certainly didn’t help Mayorga’s cause.
Then, on October 2, 2004, after visiting the canvas himself, returning former Welterweight champion Felix Trinidad beat up and stopped Mayorga in eight rounds. Gone was the super-human mystique.
Briefly retiring, he returned and on August 13th, 2005, Mayorga incorporated a strong jab, in addition to a fiery attack to batter limited puncher Michele Piccirillo and win the vacant World Boxing Council Light Middleweight Title by unanimous decision.
This is the title that he will defend on May 6th against “Golden Boy” Promoter Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Ostensibly a swan song for De La Hoya, whose last three performances have been less than stellar, this is a bout that Mayorga has a chance to win and make good on some of his early promise. Although De La Hoya is the superior boxer, his punching power has not been overwhelming as of late.
Sure, De La Hoya’s stoppage of Fernando Vargas at light middleweight in the 10th round was impressive. Yet, it could be argued that an accumulation of punches factored in nearly as much as the finishing left hook. And, that was in 2002.
De La Hoya went on to stop Yori Boy Campas in May 2003, a respectable, but spent former champion with a record of 80-5. Still, Campas was knocked out by Felix Trinidad in 1994 and essentially stopped by Jose Luis Lopez, Fernando Vargas, Oba Carr and Daniel Santos. This was a fight Oscar was supposed to win and win impressively.
More poignantly, De La Hoya’s punching power was less than scorching against Mosley in a unanimous decision loss in September 2003, in his dubious win over Felix Sturm in June 2004, and his knockout loss to Bernard Hopkins in September 2004. While it could be argued that Sturm and Hopkins were middleweights, his bout against Mosley was at light middleweight.
That’s the Mosley who was trounced by Vernon Forrest, who in turn was pummeled by Mayorga.
Add to the mix that De La Hoya hasn’t fought since September 2004, or a little over a year and a half, and the question arises, can De La Hoya return successfully against a primed, albeit somewhat flawed fighter?.
History suggests that the inactivity, along with the proverbial “punchers chance,” gives Mayorga a definite chance to win, which is terrific from an entertainment standpoint. Add to that the contrast in styles, the apparent dislike for one another, and recent press conference skirmishes and this has the makings of a compelling box office mega fight. That’s terrific for the sport!
Except one thing, that is.
Mayorga did not simply insult De La Hoya or his wife, as Oscar pointed out. According to a reliable high school student who witnessed Mayorga on Spanish television, he not only said he would knockout De La Hoya, but would afterwards–in coarser terms—have sex with De La Hoya’s wife and his mother! That’s not to mention the scarcely veiled insults to the people of Mexico. Retired boxing trainer, Frank Baltazar, confirmed the veracity of this observation. If true, I find this particularly troubling. Of course, since he said these things in Spanish, it apparently escaped the mainstream media’s notice and subsequent censure.
Many years ago, Muhammad Ali astutely observed professional wrestler Gorgeous George infuriate many with his over the top preening and bragging antics, motivating as many to come see him lose as win, but come they did! Ali refined his mannerisms, and combining them with extraordinary talent, charisma, toughness and a costly civil rights stand to become a megastar that transcended the sport.
Athletes and boxers since have been trying to replicate his success.
In the end, Mayorga’s antics may simply be an attempt to capitalize on this phenomenon. They certainly seem to be mobilizing many Latinos to the box office.
However, when is enough simply enough? For every high school kid who caught that sound byte, you can bet many younger Spanish speaking children heard that as well. Is the social cost of subjecting them to that sort of nonsense really worth it?
Smoking cigarettes and saying vulgar things is nothing new to this sport. Back in the 40’s, Rocky Graziano was known to smoke cigarettes in between rounds of sparring. Many other fighters have said as bad or worse things, too. However, broadcasting it over the airwaves for all to hear is, in my estimation, way out of line.
Like Mike Tyson before him, his act has gotten old and tired.
Mr. De La Hoya, please do us a favor: Teach him some manners.
