Mayorga Stretches Mosley To The Limit

By William Trillo
Photos: Bret "The Threat" Newton

No one expected Ricardo Mayorga to be hanging around going into the 12th round of his fight with Shane Mosley, least of all Shane himself, yet there Mayorga was in all his glory. Not only was he still there physically but he still had a real chance to pull off the upset .

Luckily for Mosley, Mayorga hit the wall somewhere at the midpoint of round 12 and as if all the cigarette smoking caught up with him at once, Mayorga was ready to be had. The 37 year old Mosley saw his moment and he jumped on it with the precision that a seasoned future Hall of Fame veteran would.

Mosley had Mayorga reeling early in the round and by that midpoint doom was near and with one more fantastic flurry Mosley sent Mayorga crashing to the canvas. Mayorga scrambled to his feet but this fight could have been stopped right then and there, and maybe it should have. When the ref asked Mayorga if he could continue “The Matador” said yes and then turned into the opposite direction of Mosley, he had no clue where he was. When he got his bearings Mayorga came forward and Shane landed a left hook that put an end to the night at 2:59 of round 12.

In other words, Mosley needed every second of that fight before he could finally secure the victory and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Going into the final stanza the judges scorecards had Mosley ahead by one point on one card another card had Mayorga ahead by one point. The last card had Shane up by 5 points but that is flat out ridiculous. Had Mayorga been able to muster up the strength to win the last round this fight would have been a Draw and then all the Mosley retirement talk would have resurfaced big time. There is probably still going to be a small groundswell of press saying Shane should hang ‘em up as it is.

Mayorga, the man Mosley said he was going to stop early came out guns blazing and he was cracking Shane with some overhand rights early and often. The punches that Mosley would have been able to avoid earlier in his stellar career were landing with a thud and Mosley’s legs were wobbling time and time again.

Shane still has incredible hand speed, in fact he still may have the fastest hands of any active Welterweight, but with that said his reflexes have slowed and the punches that he used to slip and counter are now finding their mark with more frequency these days and Mayorga’s roundhouses were no different, they were landing time and time again.

The sixth round looked like Mosley had found his mark and for a moment it appeared Mayorga was through because it looked as though Shane had him figured out. That notion was quickly dispelled as Mayorga came back with a vengeance in rounds 7 – 9 and this fight was heading in a place no one at Golden Boy Promotions could have imagined.

A quick look at the Golden Boy ringside upper brass was very telling, they all looked as if they had seen a Ghost.

The truth is they did.

Shane is one of the classiest fighters in the business and will go down as one of the all time greats, but on this night Shane was a Ghost of the guy we have come to know and love as "Sugar".


Berto and Forbes Give Us Exactly What Was Expected

When the bout featuring Andre Berto defending his WBC 147 pound belt against Stevie Forbes was first announced the initial reaction was that Berto would most likely defeat Forbes but he wouldn’t stop him, Stevie has a knack of staying on his feet.

It was also thought that Berto still has a lot to learn and though his youth would prevail and get him by Forbes, he would not dominate or shine.

That’s just how the fight went down.

Berto won a unanimous decision in a bout that played out in the ring exactly like it did on paper.

There’s nothing more to say about this one.


Questions Or Comments? Email William Trillo
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