No one questions Ricardo Mayorga�s status as a professional trash talker outside the ring. However, Oscar De La Hoya had little trouble making Mayorga look like a complete amateur inside the ring. De La Hoya, showing little ring rust after a 20-month layoff, set the tone for the fight in the very first round by knocking Mayorga to the canvas with a perfect left hook. De La Hoya had little trouble blocking the majority of Mayorga's wild punches and used his superior hand speed and technical ability to pick Mayorga apart. Mayorga�s best moment came in round three when he caught De La Hoya with a nice uppercut but it still wasn�t enough to win him the round. De La Hoya put Mayorga down for a second time in round six and then proceeded to pummel him along the ropes until referee Jay Nady stopped the fight at the 1:25 mark. The win gives De La Hoya the WBC junior middleweight title previously held by Mayorga.
De La Hoya is still the biggest draw in boxing and he gave the sport a much-need shot in the arm on this night. De La Hoya wouldn�t comment on his future plans but there is much speculation that he will meet Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a mega-money fight in September. Mayweather would be favored in such a bout � but not by as wide a margin as he would have before the Golden Boy demonstrated that he�s far from finished. Welcome back Oscar!
The boxers from The Contender television series took another step towards joining the boxing mainstream ... with mixed results. Contender champ Sergio Mora (18-0) was knocked down in the second round but got off the canvas to score a seventh-round TKO over Archak Termeliksetian. Referee Robert Byrd appeared to call a halt to the action a bit prematurely but Mora was clearly in control at the time of the stoppage. In the co-feature, fan favorite Alfonso Gomez (14-3-2) and Jesse Feliciano went toe-to-toe for eight rounds of non-stop action. Despite all the punches being landed, there were no knockdowns. In the end, the judges scored the bout a majority draw. Two other Contenders were on the undercard in six-round bouts. Miguel Espino scored a shut out over Gabriel Holguin and Jonathan Reid earned a unanimous decision over Ryan Davis.
Ricardo Mayorga remains - if nothing else - unpredictable. With just a few days left before his title defense against Oscar De La Hoya, Mayorga is now threatening to pull out of the fight if he isn't paid the same $8 million that De La Hoya is guaranteed. Mayorga is contracted to earn between $1 million and $2 million depending on pay-per-view sales. Hard to tell if this is simply Mayorga's latest tactic to try and get under De La Hoya's skin ... or if he's looking for a way out of the fight ... or if he's just plain crazy. Don King is Mayorga's promoter so expect the fight to go on. King can be very persuasive when he wants to be and - one way or another - he usually gets what he wants. If Mayorga does pull out of the fight, it will amount to career suicide.
Update: Mayorga has apparently come to his senses and the bout will go ahead as scheduled.
On August 12, Hasim Rahman will defend his WBC heavyweight title in a rematch with Oleg Maskaev. In their first meeting, back in 1999, Maskaev not only knocked Rahman out � he knocked him entirely out of the ring! While both men have had many ups and downs in the six-plus years since that fight, Rahman will enter the ring this time as the favorite. Nevertheless, Maskaev will have the proverbial �puncher�s chance� � as well as the knowledge that he�s already beaten Rahman once before. If Maskaev were to win, all four heavyweight belt-holders will originate from the former Soviet Union. IBF champ Wladimir Klitschko was born in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. WBA champ Nicolay Valuev was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. WBO champ Sergei Liakhovich is from Vitebsk, Belarus. Maskaev was born in Zhambul, Kazakhstan. The heavyweight division has historically been dominated by fighters born in the United States � not anymore.
Oscar De La Hoya, beginning his final week of preparation for Saturday night's eagerly anticipated bout with Ricardo Mayorga, will appear this evening on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. This is a fight which requires no hype but that isn't stopping De La Hoya and Mayorga from making the rounds to sell this as a bout between two fighters who genuinely dislike each other. In his prime, De La Hoya would likely have been too skilled for Mayorga's unorthodox (crazy?) style. However, at age 33 and out-of-action for a career-long 18 months, De La Hoya's skills and reflexes are likely to be at least somewhat diminished. Whether or not any deterioration on the part of De La Hoya is enough to make this an even fight remains unclear ... but what seems clear is that Mayorga's recklessness in the ring is almost assured of making this fight action-packed and entertaining for as long as it lasts.
Former world champ Acelino Freitas (38-1) has defeated Zahir Raheem (27-2) by split decision to win the vacant WBO lightweight title. Freitas was the more effective fighter through five rounds but the two fought fairly evenly over the remaining seven rounds. Neither fighter was ever down or seriously hurt in the competitive but clinch-filled bout. The new HBO Boxing After Dark broadcast team of Fran Charles, Lennox Lewis and Max Kellerman didn�t always seem to be calling the same fight that was taking place in the ring and saw Raheem as the clear winner. The judges, however, saw the fight 116-112 and 115-113 for Freitas and 115-113 for Rahim. Next for Freitas might be a unification bout against the winner of the June 3 fight between Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales.
On the undercard, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward raised his record to 9-0 when previously undefeated Andy Kolle failed to come out for the seventh round of their scheduled eight rounder. Ward showed good skills and should become a factor in the middleweight division after some more seasoning in the professional ranks.
Power-punching heavyweight Samuel Peter (25-1) is back in action tonight on ESPN2 in his second bout since dropping a unanimous decision to Wladimir Klitschko last September (despite dropping Klitschko three times!). Peter�s opponent is journeyman Julius Long (14-7). Long is nothing special but he is seven feet tall! Can you say �T-I-M-B-E-R� !
Peter, who needs to throw more punches and not rely entirely on landing one big bomb, will have new trainer Jesse Reid in his corner for the first time. Peter�s management team hopes that an impressive victory over Long will vault Peter into contention for a shot at one of the four current heavyweight beltholders. At 25, there�s still plenty of time for Peter to become a major force on the heavyweight scene.
On the undercard, young heavyweight prospect Mike Marrone (13-0) will try to get back on track against Dan Whetzel (7-5-1). Marrone, 20, nearly lost his last bout against unknown Zack Page but was able to survive and score a majority decision.
Results: Both Peter and Marrone scored first round stoppages over their hopelessly overmatched opponents. Click here for complete results.
Super middleweight Allan Green (20-0) is one of the most exciting young prospects in boxing today. However, if he has any hopes of being competitive in a proposed bout with Joe Calzaghe then he better learn to keep his hands up. Green decked late substitute Donnie McCrary (17-4-2) with a body shot in the third round of their nationally televised bout. However, Green was careless as he went in to finish off McCrary and soon found himself on the canvas after being on the receiving end of a series of bombs. Green struggled to survive the round but fought smarter from that point forward and stopped the overmatched McCrary with a crushing left hook in the sixth round. On the undercard, heavyweight Jameel McCline was unimpressive but still managed to score a ten-round unanimous decision over veteran Rob Calloway.
Roy Jones Jr. will try to snap a three-fight losing streak when he returns to the ring on July 29 at a site to be determined. Jones will apparently be taking on Prince Badi Ajamu (25-2-1, 14 KOs). While some question Jones' desire to continue fighting after looking bad in his last four fights, there's another question that every boxing fan will be asking ... who is Prince Badi Ajamu? Excellent question. Ajamu is a 34-year old light heavyweight from Philadelphia who has lost to Rico Hoye and Otis Grant and fought to a draw against Anthony Bonsante (yes, the "#1 Dad" guy from TV's The Contender series). None of Ajamu's wins came against anyone significant. So why is he getting a shot at Roy Jones Jr.? Another excellent question. In part because he holds the following light heavyweight titles: NABO, WBC Continental Americas, WBC CABOFE, IBC Intercontinental and Pennsylvania State champion. Meaningless? Absolutely. However, a victory by Jones could give one of the four major ratings organizations an excuse to make Jones the mandatory challenger for the title. Tomasz Adamek, Fabrice Tiozzo, Clinton Woods and Zsolt Erdei are the currently recognized light heavyweight champs ... so it's fairly obvious why each rating organization is eager to grant Jones a title shot. If Jones, 37, were to lose against Ajamu then he would almost certainly have no choice but to retire.
Chris Byrd has made many heavyweights look bad trying to hit him cleanly. Wladimir Klitschko, however, has had nothing but success in hitting Byrd cleanly during the 19 rounds they have spent in the ring together. The first time around - in October 2000 - Klitschko knocked Byrd down twice but the fight still went the distance. This time, Klitschko again sent Byrd to the canvas on two occasions but the referee called a halt to the action in the seventh round. Byrd's lack of power prevented him from ever being a factor in this bout but he showed a good chin and a lot heart before finally succumbing to Klitschko's accuracy and power. Klitschko deserves credit for resurrecting his career after two devastating knockout losses had him labeled by many as a glass-chinned pretender. Now, with four straight wins under his belt, Wladimir Klitschko may very well be the best heavyweight in the world. If nothing else, Klitschko's combination of size and punching power - not to mention a still-questionable chin - make him the most compelling figure on the heavyweight scene today.
