By Elisinio Castillo
Former two division world champion Ricardo Mayorga (32-9-1, 26 KOs) of Nicaragua is now targeting a fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. - and has no problem facing the Mexican boxer at the super middleweight limit of 168.
Mayorga, 43-years-old, returned to the ring last month when he snapped nearly a two-year layoff, and knocked out Mexican journeyman Jaudiel Zepeda in three rounds. It was Mayorga first bout since August of 2015 when he was knocked out by Shane Mosley.
The fight with Zepeda took place at the light heavyweight limit of 175. He plans to come down to super middleweight and then intends to continue dropping the pounds until he reaches the middleweight division, where there are several big names.
Last Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Chavez Jr. lost a one-sided twelve round unanimous decision to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
The fight took place at a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds. After the fight, Chavez Jr. said he was weakened by the weight and plans to continue his career in the super middleweight division.
Mayorga's career is being handled by promoter and former world champion Rosendo 'the Buffalo' Alvarez. He says Mayorga wants to get Chavez Jr. in the ring.
"Mayorga is not playing around. He is willing to face Chavez Jr. at the weight that he's considering," Alvarez said.
As reported a few weeks ago on BoxingScene.com, there are ongoing discussions for Mayorga to face Donetsk super middleweight contender Stanislav Kashtanov. The exact details of the card, which would take place in Russia, have yet to be determined.
32-year-old Kashtanov failed in two attempts to capture world titles - with split decision losses when he tried to grasp the WBA super middleweight title and the interim-WBA light heavyweight title. With a record of 35 wins, two defeats and 21 wins by knockout, he last saw action on May 21 when he knocked out Polish fighter Tomasz Gargoyles.