By Geno McGahee

Ricardo Mayorga, 29-7-1, 23 KO’s, is a huge underdog going into his March 12th showdown with WBA Light Middleweight Champion, Miguel Cotto, 35-2, 28 KO’s, but he is nearly looking past the Puerto Rican superstar and toward the biggest name in boxing: Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao has his dance card full with Shane Mosley in May and, reportedly Floyd Mayweather, JR., finally in late 2011, but the popularity of Mayorga could make him a warm up fight should he land his power punch on the chin of Cotto and come out victorious.

Mayorga emerged on the scene in 2003 with a knockout over the heavily favored Vernon Forrest. He would win a rematch with a 12 round majority decision, but the limited brawler was exposed when he was out-boxed by Cory Spinks. Despite the defeat, his marketability landed him a showdown with Felix Trinidad in 2004.

Tito Trinidad’s mixture of skill and power proved too much as Mayorga crumbled to the canvas in 8 rounds, and even with a record of 1-2 in three fights, he was given a title shot, vying for the vacant WBC Light Middleweight Title against Michele Piccirillo. Mayorga would win and land the biggest fight in his career: Oscar De La Hoya.

The bout with “The Golden Boy” was a huge fight for boxing and it was due in large part to the “villain” role played by Mayorga. It was good guy versus bad guy on a huge stage and Mayorga guaranteed victory and even gave impressions of De La Hoya urinating in his pants. He insulted Oscar’s wife and really got under his skin, but would end up paying for it. The one thing that Mayorga has a terrible time with is extreme skill. De La Hoya dropped him early and then pummeled Mayorga, stopping him in six rounds.

At this point, Mayorga was seen as a spent force and was pitted against another shot fighter in Fernando Vargas. It was a close fight that Mayorga would win. It would put him into an HBO showdown with Shane Mosley and he did very well, fighting evenly over 12 rounds before getting caught late and stopped. It would mark the end of his boxing career, or so we thought, as he signed to fight in the world of mixed martial arts.

Don King would step in and prevent his fighter’s shift to the MMA and brought him back to boxing and back to the big time. After two years on the shelf, he fought journeyman Michael Walker and beat him via 9th round stoppage, leading to this opportunity to Cotto and the continual challenges to Manny Pacquiao.

Miguel Cotto has only lost twice in his career. He was beaten by the “hands of plaster” Antonio Margarito in a fight that hurt his career severely. The beating was fierce as he was hit with literal bricks until he collapsed in 11 rounds. It was an unfair fight and one that forever damaged what could have been an even better career.

The second defeat was to Manny Pacquiao, another beating, but this time a fair one. The speed and timing was too much for Cotto and he was stopped in 12 rounds. The two defeats were both systematic beatings and it is highly unlikely that the undisciplined and raw Mayorga can put forth an effort to put Cotto in a position where he is tired and beaten enough to be stopped.

When you figure in the recent track record of Mayorga, and the fact that he has only had one knockout victory in the last eight years, it’s hard to imagine that he will shock the world and stop Cotto. Cotto has the skill level to keep Mayorga at bay and despite his recent win, it’s hard to imagine that Mayorga will be sharp enough to win.

This is a highly publicized mismatch, but Mayorga has that “puncher’s chance” and the talent for marketing that will make the pay per view buy rate high, and should he pull off the upset, the Pacquiao demand will rise and should the Mayweather, JR., negotiations fall through again, you can expect Mayorga to be heavily considered.

On March 12th, Mayorga is either going to take another beating at the hands of a big name in boxing or one of the biggest upsets in recent memory. The one thing to note is that he did fight evenly with Shane Mosley for nearly 12 rounds and Sugar Shane fought evenly with Miguel Cotto. It could be an indication that the fight will be more competitive then most think. Whatever the case, Mayorga is still drawing headlines and that is an accomplishment for a guy that has gone 4-4, 1 KO, in his last eight fights.

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