CAN MAYORGA WALK THE TALK?
By Rich Mazon
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 11 Mar 2011
Ricardo Mayorga?s offensive started way before round one of his March 12, 2011 fight with Miguel Cotto. However, they are not in the form of big punches like the big right that he threw to upset Vernon Forrest in 2003. This one is by a barrage of verbal attacks aimed at Cotto and trainer Emanuel Steward. If this is a fight of words, Mayorga by now is the runaway winner. But the reality is, that this is a boxing match and not a game of ?the dozens.? And in this match, he is the underdog, a clear underdog, an 8-1 underdog according to the Vegas sports books.
But that does not deter Mayorga, at least not his attitude and definitely not his mouth. Long known for his colorful antics in and out of the ring. Mayorga is trying his best to generate interest for this one. And he is playing it to the hilt. In the final press conference of the fight, Mayorga was at it once again saying in front of a smiling crowd that, ?I?m either going to knock Cotto down or I?m going to bust him open with a cut on one of [his] two eyes.? It does sound like a quote from an over confident pugilist which is nothing unusual in this sport but he followed it up with, ?Whoever is on Cotto?s side, they?re going to have to wear black come Sunday. Tell the athletic commission to have 911 really close by the ring Saturday night because Cotto is going to be in bad shape.?
And then he looked at Cotto and remarked, ?What are you planning on doing when I beat you? Continue in boxing or look for a job? All Nicaraguans and Latinos alike, including Puerto Ricans are going to bet on me and not on Cotto because they know what the smart bet is. After the fight, they are no longer going to call him Miguel Jose Cotto. They?ll call him Miguel Jose Mayorga. I?m going to finish the job and send you back over to Ricky Martin so you can finish your job.?
That is classic Mayorga for you, outspoken, outlandish, blunt, brute and funny. So funny that Emmanuel Steward remarked,? It?s a good thing that fights are not won at press conferences because we?d be knocked out of the box. ?Mayorga has always attracted attention with his outrageous quotes in the buildup during his fights. This one is no exception. On the initial press conference in New York in January, he opened it up with, ?I made a promise to Don that I will never fail him. Don is the best promoter in the world and Bob is a close second. I will prove to everyone on March 12 that I am the man and you are the woman.?
And then he directed his assault on Cotto with, ?That belt you are holding, polish it up for me because I will be taking it on March 12. I will make a promise here today that I will knock him out in four rounds.? From then on, he has set the tone for the promo tour. Describe him what you want, one thing he is not is boring or dull. As rude as it sounds, his quotes makes everyone laugh. That includes Don King, Bob Arum and Steward himself.
Mayorga has indeed stole the show. And what a show he has put on for us so far. Week after week we are delighted with such remarks as ?Don?t take a knee on me like you did with Margarito (while looking at Cotto), Let me finish you. I come from a country where women give birth to men.? If he speaks in English and does not need translation, he will definitely give Floyd Mayweather a run for his money in the art of trash talking. Imagine him in an episode of 24/7 or Fight Camp with all this antics, tirades and remarks. And you pair him up with Don King, that is must-watch-television right there. We all will be addicted to it every week, even if we admit it or not. We shall be glued to our seats and tumbling on the floor in laughter in each episode thereof.
Trash talking is definitely not dead in boxing. This fight?s promo tour is full of it, courtesy of Mayorga. Much to the delight of Arum and King who hopes his antics will be good enough reason for people to fork in fifty dollars to watch their bout. ?And isn?t that what boxing is all about? When someone pays for a pay-per-view, they want to be entertained. Cotto - Mayorga is perfect for this,? Arum remarked. This match needs this though. Here, you a have a fighter on the twilight of his career with no recent major victory facing a fighter who has lost 2 of his last 4 fights in Cotto.
Miguel Cotto headlined a lot of events in the past, but he has plenty of help with the likes of Mosley, Margarito and Pacquiao. Mayorga is obviously not in their caliber. Maybe if it was 2002 or 2003 where he beat Andrew Lewis and Vernon Forrest to unify the welterweight belts, that there is a different story. Cotto is definitely on his own in selling this fight. The undercard does not lend much support either. Here you have Yuri Foreman, whom Cotto beat and grab the belt from last year in New York and an NFL safety in Tommy Zbikowsky who turns to boxing again because of the NFL labor contract discord. It does not help too, that it is up against HBO?s presentation of the Sergio Martinez vs. Sergei Dzinziruk fight in Connecticut in the same night.
This one though is without the fifty dollar price tag. This fight needs to generate hype to sell and that is what Mayorga is task to do. A role he has no reluctance in performing. And he is truly performing it with the old machismo he is known for.
No one is giving Ricardo Mayorga any advantage going to this fight. It does not matter if he has been an underdog before and has pulled the upset against a much better opponent in the past. It does not add that he is a three time world champion . No one is taking him seriously like his remarks. But boxing is a sport where everything can change with a single punch. And Mayorga has proven that he is capable of throwing one. He definitely has a puncher?s chance to pull this off. That plus his off-the-wall personality is what he brings to the table. And everyone involved in this fight is hoping that , that?ll be enough to sell this fight. Other than that, there is not much he can offer. Boxing is a commodity. Bob Arum and Don King knows this too well. And they have no other better salesman in Ricardo ?El Matador? Mayorga.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rich Mazon .
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