It may be a character defect on my part, but I have always held sporting mavericks, tearaways and anti-heroes in the highest regard.
Favourite footballer? Diego Maradona. Snooker player? That would be Alex Higgins. Actor? The inimitable Oliver Reed.
In boxing there have been so many, but one pugilist that really did fascinate me when I was first starting out as a sports journalist in the early noughties was Ricardo ‘El Matador’ Mayorga.
With his incessant trash-talking and fondness for cigarettes and liquor, Mayorga illuminated the landscape for a few unforgettable years as boxing’s resident bad boy.
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It was 22 years ago last weekend in fact that Mayorga announced himself the world stage – as a 10/1 betting underdog – by stunning Vernon Forrest.
HBO actually laid the foundations for the upset in their pre-fight broadcast from Southern California., as they highlighted some of the biggest shocks they had televised live – including Buster Douglas vs Mike Tyson – as part of their forthcoming Legendary Nights series.
And while this was not quite Douglas vs Tyson in terms of scale, it was a pretty seismic shock all things considered, given how easily the unbeaten Forrest had handled the brilliant ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosely in two WBC welterweight world title fights the previous year.
These were simpler times.
In 2003 Andre Agassi was winning his eighth and last Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, Zinedine Zidane was still a Galáctico, 50 Cent had just released his iconic “In Da Club” single, and Brexit was just a twinkle in David Cameron’s eye.
Mayorga was never meant to be a star. Born and raised in a poor barrio in Managua, Nicaragua, his childhood offered a dirt-floor view of the world.
He was paid a measly $30 for his pro debut on an unremarkable card in Puerto Rico. Less than a decade later he was a world champion.
Forrest vs Mayorga is a bit of a cult classic for boxing fans. Mayorga had re-hydrated by more than 15 lbs between the weigh-in and fight night, and you can safely assume this wasn’t done eating quinoa and leafy greens.
‘El Matador’ liked to get down and dirty
For Forrest – who had stunned ‘pound-for-pound’ star Mosley and was regarded by almost everyone as the best welterweight on the planet going in – the night was an unmitigated disaster.
There is an old adage which states ‘Don't wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it’. And on this night, for reasons that are still not clear, Forrest elected to stand and trade with Mayorga.
Not only was the taller and longer Forrest brawling with a brawler at the Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, but he was also backing up in straight lines.
And so after just over eight minutes of action that you could not take your eyes off it. then it happened.
Forrest got caught with a huge right hand to the temple, and despite eventually rising before the count reached ‘10’, the fight was waved off by ref Marty Denkin.
Denkin knew a thing or two about upsets as well by the way, as he was the referee in Rocky III and Rocky IV and remains the only man to count out Rocky Balboa!
It was a stunning result, and watching a clearly amused Larry Merchant in the post-fight interview lighting up a smoke for the maniacal Mayorga was another highlight.
If you are a boxing coach starting out with a new prospect, chances are you would probably not study tapes of Mayorga given he was so unorthodox.
The Nicaraguan had the heart of a lion but was rarely easy on the eye in terms of his skillset and he was blessed with weird, freakish power. Clearly heavy-handed, if you watch his fights on YouTube he rarely throws a correct shot and his fights are a fusillade of slaps and cuffs.
He also had a comedically poor defence but was also blessed – certainly until the latter stages of his career- with a bomb-proof chin.
It’s almost inconceivable he got the wins he did with that porous defence and brawling technique, but the history books show he is a two-weight world champion and as well as Forrest (twice) beat other good men such as Fernando Vargas and Andrew 'Six Heads' Lewis.
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He lost on his biggest night against Oscar De Lay Hoya, but made north of $2 million for that 2006 battle in Las Vegas. Indeed, the good nights were few and few between after that Forrest win and Mayorga eventually finished his career in 2019 with a record of 32-12-1 (with 26 knockouts).
It always struck me that ‘El Matador’ was an unlikely nickname for this Latino hot head. A good matador sidesteps a bull's charge but rather than sidestep any danger in his life, Mayorga used to run headlong towards it.
To me - who could only read about or watch grainy old footage of Roberto Duran’s pomp without ever experiencing it live - Mayorga seemed to be cut form the same cloth as old Hands of Stone, certainly in terms of his mindset.
An athlete who somehow rose out of poverty to reach the top, despite being unable to resist the forbidden fruit along the way.
So here’s to Nicaragua's number one sporting maverick. The epitome of machismo. They don’t make them like him anymore.
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