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Maybe Ricardo Mayorga is still loopy from his last-second, 12th-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley in September, but the former welterweight champ and junior middleweight titleholder is up to his old antics again.
Remember back in May 2006 when he threatened to pull out of a pay-per-view bout with Oscar De La Hoya three days before the fight because he was unhappy with his $2 million purse and demanded $8 million instead?
After everyone stopped laughing, the fight, of course, was repaired, but only after 24 hours of virtual chaos. Needless to say, Mayorga's attempted shakedown of De La Hoya and promoter Don King didn't work. The fight went on and De La Hoya destroyed Mayorga in six brutally one-sided rounds.
Fast forward to Tuesday. That's when Mayorga again attempted his shakedown routine, and again it didn't work. At least this time he gave fight organizers 10 days to find a new opponent for Alfredo Angulo (14-0, 11 KOs), the exciting prospect he was supposed to face Feb. 14 on HBO's "Boxing After Dark" at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. The bout is part of a tripleheader that includes two other excellent fights: lightweight titlist Nate Campbell against South Africa's Ali Funeka and interim junior middleweight titlist Sergio Martinez against Kermit Cintron.
Mayorga (28-7-1, 22 KOs), apparently unhappy with the purse he was supposed to receive for a fight that had long ago been deemed a done deal, said he wouldn't fight without a better deal.
Fine.
Frankly, Mayorga was lucky to even get another shot on HBO, considering he's 3-4 in his past seven fights and has been knocked out in three of the losses. Still, he would have posed a nice test for Angulo in a fight that probably would have been exciting.
So although it's too bad the fight is off, nobody is crying in their beer about the situation.
Angulo promoter Gary Shaw and HBO instead are searching for a new opponent, and King doesn't seem all that upset by Mayorga's nonsense. He is resigned to it.
"This is typical of Mayorga," a calm King told ESPN.com. "He did the same thing with Oscar. He thinks he's playing a game. This is the way he operates. I just take it like it is. If he fights, he fights. If he don't, it ain't the end of the world. I know the beast I am dealing with."
The rumors swirling around Mayorga's pullout included a supposed rib injury in training as well as weight problems. But King made it clear that it was simply Mayorga demanding more money and thinking somebody would give in to him.
"I won't fall prey to it," said King, who said he has advanced Mayorga $300,000, which, of course, Mayorga will owe King. And King always gets his money.
Shaw, busy co-promoting Saturday night's Vic Darchinyan-Jorge Arce junior bantamweight championship fight in Anaheim, Calif., was ticked off by Mayorga's withdrawal but fielding calls from numerous folks offering potential replacements.
"Now we know why they call Mayorga 'The Matador.' He's full of bulls---," Shaw said. "This is as unprofessional as it gets. We don't hear he's pulled out from his promoter or manager [Carl King], just from everyone else in boxing. You have to wonder if he ever intended to fight at all. Mayorga didn't show at the press conference in Florida, and we have yet to see his mandatory 30-day weigh-in report from the WBC. Obviously, it wasn't a red cape he was waving, it was a red flag. But life goes on, and we will make every effort to find a worthy opponent for Angulo to preserve his spot on the card and the HBO broadcast."
Shaw had ideas of possibly getting Cornelius "K9" Bundrage or Alfonso Gomez. Kassim Ouma and Ishe Smith said they were interested. Then the focus turned to San Diego's Danny Perez, who was approved by HBO. However, that seems to have fallen through because of some sort of issue between Perez's manager and Shaw's matchmaker. Don't you just love the soap opera?
Anyway, now Shaw says he's been in touch with Square Ring CEO John Wirt about Daniel Edouard filling in. Edouard generally makes pleasing fights and has won three in a row since a TKO loss to Eromosele Albert in July 2007. HBO viewers might remember him getting stopped by Jermain Taylor in 2005 in Taylor's final fight before he won the middleweight championship from Bernard Hopkins.
If Angulo-Edouard is finalized, it does figure to be an action fight and a test for Angulo on an already excellent card.
It's just too bad Mayorga won't be part of it. After his latest stunt, he might not ever be part of another HBO card.
Remember back in May 2006 when he threatened to pull out of a pay-per-view bout with Oscar De La Hoya three days before the fight because he was unhappy with his $2 million purse and demanded $8 million instead?
After everyone stopped laughing, the fight, of course, was repaired, but only after 24 hours of virtual chaos. Needless to say, Mayorga's attempted shakedown of De La Hoya and promoter Don King didn't work. The fight went on and De La Hoya destroyed Mayorga in six brutally one-sided rounds.
Fast forward to Tuesday. That's when Mayorga again attempted his shakedown routine, and again it didn't work. At least this time he gave fight organizers 10 days to find a new opponent for Alfredo Angulo (14-0, 11 KOs), the exciting prospect he was supposed to face Feb. 14 on HBO's "Boxing After Dark" at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. The bout is part of a tripleheader that includes two other excellent fights: lightweight titlist Nate Campbell against South Africa's Ali Funeka and interim junior middleweight titlist Sergio Martinez against Kermit Cintron.
Mayorga (28-7-1, 22 KOs), apparently unhappy with the purse he was supposed to receive for a fight that had long ago been deemed a done deal, said he wouldn't fight without a better deal.
Fine.
Frankly, Mayorga was lucky to even get another shot on HBO, considering he's 3-4 in his past seven fights and has been knocked out in three of the losses. Still, he would have posed a nice test for Angulo in a fight that probably would have been exciting.
So although it's too bad the fight is off, nobody is crying in their beer about the situation.
Angulo promoter Gary Shaw and HBO instead are searching for a new opponent, and King doesn't seem all that upset by Mayorga's nonsense. He is resigned to it.
"This is typical of Mayorga," a calm King told ESPN.com. "He did the same thing with Oscar. He thinks he's playing a game. This is the way he operates. I just take it like it is. If he fights, he fights. If he don't, it ain't the end of the world. I know the beast I am dealing with."
The rumors swirling around Mayorga's pullout included a supposed rib injury in training as well as weight problems. But King made it clear that it was simply Mayorga demanding more money and thinking somebody would give in to him.
"I won't fall prey to it," said King, who said he has advanced Mayorga $300,000, which, of course, Mayorga will owe King. And King always gets his money.
Shaw, busy co-promoting Saturday night's Vic Darchinyan-Jorge Arce junior bantamweight championship fight in Anaheim, Calif., was ticked off by Mayorga's withdrawal but fielding calls from numerous folks offering potential replacements.
"Now we know why they call Mayorga 'The Matador.' He's full of bulls---," Shaw said. "This is as unprofessional as it gets. We don't hear he's pulled out from his promoter or manager [Carl King], just from everyone else in boxing. You have to wonder if he ever intended to fight at all. Mayorga didn't show at the press conference in Florida, and we have yet to see his mandatory 30-day weigh-in report from the WBC. Obviously, it wasn't a red cape he was waving, it was a red flag. But life goes on, and we will make every effort to find a worthy opponent for Angulo to preserve his spot on the card and the HBO broadcast."
Shaw had ideas of possibly getting Cornelius "K9" Bundrage or Alfonso Gomez. Kassim Ouma and Ishe Smith said they were interested. Then the focus turned to San Diego's Danny Perez, who was approved by HBO. However, that seems to have fallen through because of some sort of issue between Perez's manager and Shaw's matchmaker. Don't you just love the soap opera?
Anyway, now Shaw says he's been in touch with Square Ring CEO John Wirt about Daniel Edouard filling in. Edouard generally makes pleasing fights and has won three in a row since a TKO loss to Eromosele Albert in July 2007. HBO viewers might remember him getting stopped by Jermain Taylor in 2005 in Taylor's final fight before he won the middleweight championship from Bernard Hopkins.
If Angulo-Edouard is finalized, it does figure to be an action fight and a test for Angulo on an already excellent card.
It's just too bad Mayorga won't be part of it. After his latest stunt, he might not ever be part of another HBO card.
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