The rematch between former world champions Shane Mosley
and Ricardo Mayorga faced obstacles before the two fighters could even enter
the ring. It faced a legal challenge from Mayorga’s longtime promoter Don King
who sought an injunction to prevent the fight for taking place. The fight also
faced competition in the form of the Leo Santa Cruz-Abner Mares bout, which
took place on the same night, at the same time, and at a nearby venue from
where Mosley and Mayorga were to do battle.
Mosley and Mayorga however, would overcome the objection
of King in the week leading up to the fight so the bout could take place as
scheduled on Saturday night at The Forum in Inglewood, CA. The first fight
between the two in September 2008 was a highly competitive bout from start to
finish. Mosley was victorious in that fight stopping Mayorga in dramatic
fashion with just one second remaining in the fight.
In the near seven years since that battle however, an
argument could be made that both fighters have declined with each suffering
losses and having gone through stretches of inactivity. One may have been
justified to wonder what the forty-three year old Mosley and the forty-one year
old Mayorga had left to give as fighters at this stage in their respective
careers.
Prior to this bout, this observer stated that the question
I had going into this fight was what versions of the fighters would show up.
Mosley at his best is a fighter who uses a good mix of hand speed and punching
power, who also has the ability to execute his offense in spurts of
combinations. While not being the most technically sound fighter, Mayorga is a
fighter who is always dangerous and has an unorthodox brawling style.
A storyline of two former world champions turning their
attention to each other one more time, each looking to resurrect their careers
is one that can produce a memorable fight. With the legal struggles behind them,
with a competing event nearby, and with questions regarding what each fighter
had left to give, it was time for Mosley and Mayorga to enter the ring and do
battle.
It was a bit surprising to see Mayorga, who had boldly
predicted a first round knockout begin this fight being tentative. It was not
surprising however, to see Mosley have success almost immediately in
establishing his jab and finding a home for his right hand. Mosley, who was
fighting for the first time in nearly two years clearly still had his hand
speed.
Mosley continued to dictate how the fight was being
fought as the rounds went on and was able to land his right hand seemingly
whenever he wanted. Mayorga attempted to get under Mosley’s skin by taunting
him and dropping his hands presenting Mosley with an open target. Despite the
familiar tactic that Mayorga has used periodically throughout his career, it
did not succeed in getting Mosley out of his fight plan.
As the fight entered the fourth round Mosley was able to
have success in landing to Mayorga’s body. Although Mayorga would occasionally
attempt to rush Mosley with offense, he was unable to land effectively. The
primary difference in this fight was Mosley’s ability to dictate the pace,
execute his offense in combination, and generally make Mayorga miss with the
majority of his offense.
Mosley was able to open a cut over the right eye of
Mayorga in round five with a jab. The end would come in round six when Mosley
was able to connect with a left hook to the liver of Mayorga in the closing
seconds of the round. Although Mayorga complained that he had been hit by a low
blow, Referee Raul Caiz, Jr. counted Mayorga out. Official time of the stoppage
was 2:59 of round six.
Shane Mosley advances to 48-9-1, with 40 Knockouts.
Ricardo Mayorga falls to 31-9-1, with 25 Knockouts.
Also on this card, in a bout for the IBF Women’s World
Jr. Featherweight championship Yulihan Luna fought to a hard fought ten round
split decision draw with International Female Boxing Association Jr.
Featherweight (IFBA) world champion Maureen Shea. This
was an extremely close fight that saw plenty of exchanges between the two
fighters. Shea seemed to dictate the pace of the fight in the early rounds by
consistently pressing the action and attempting to cut the ring off from
Luna. Luna meanwhile attempted to play
the role of counter puncher through much of the first half of the fight.
Both fighters were able to have periods of effectiveness
throughout the fight. As this observer
has stated numerous times over the years when it comes to close fights where
each fighter is able to be effective and there isn’t much to separate one
fighter from the other it will often boil down to what a judge prefers based on
clean punching, effective aggressiveness, ring generalship, and defense.
In this fight I thought Shea was able to get the better
of the action particularly when she was able to push Luna back, close distance,
and get on the inside. Luna meanwhile, was most effective during periods where
she was able to use her movement to offset Shea’s pressure and use her jab and
get her punches off first.
It was not surprising in the eyes of this observer to see
a close decision at the end of what was a very competitive fight. As tends to
be the case in close fights, it was also not surprising to see differing scores
among the three official judges. Judge Steven
Hicks scored the fight 97-93 in favor of Luna, Judge Michael Tate scored the
fight 98-92 in favor of Shea. The third and deciding Judge David Mendoza scored
the fight even 95-95 resulting in a split decision draw.
Unofficially, I scored this fight 96-94 in favor of
Maureen Shea. This was a very difficult
fight to score and it is understandable how one could see an argument in favor
of either fighter. The way Shea was able to dictate the action in the first
half of the fight is what gave her the edge on my scorecard, but there really
wasn’t much to separate the two fighters.
Yulihan Luna advances to 12-2-1, with 1 Knockout. Maureen
Shea advances to 24-2-1, with 12 Knockouts.
This fight was the first Women’s world championship fight
to be featured prominently on a pay-per-view Boxing card in the United States
in more than a decade. It is my hope
that the spotlight of the sport is focused on Women’s Boxing more in the
future. These two fighters gave it
everything they had in what was an entertaining contest and it would not
surprise me to see a rematch between the two, possibly on a future Shane Mosley
promoted card. If a rematch is signed this observer hopes it will be broadcast
on television.
In a Lightweight bout Joel Diaz Jr. scored a fourth round
stoppage of a very “Game” Luis Arceo.
Diaz generally got the better of the action in this fight opening up
cuts over both of Arceo’s eyes and dropped Arceo with a one, two combination
midway through the fourth round. Although a bloody Arceo was able to beat the
count, the fight was stopped by Referee David Denkin. Official time of the stoppage was 1:27 of
round four.
Joel Diaz Jr. advances to 20-0, with 16 Knockouts. Luis
Arceo falls to 28-14-4, with 18 Knockouts.
It will be interesting to see where Diaz goes from here
in the Lightweight division. A challenge
that can be present for a young prospect as they move up the ranks is to see
how they respond to a fighter who provides them with some resistance. Luis
Arceo more than showed his mettle in this fight and did provide some resistance
for Diaz. We will see what the future
holds for Diaz as he continues his climb up the Lightweight division.
In non-televised action in a Cruiserweight bout Dimar
Ortuz, who fans of BKB: Big-Knockout Boxing might recognize fought to an eight
round split decision draw with Victor Barragan.
Official scores were 76-74 in favor or each fighter on two scorecards,
while the third scorecard was scored even resulting in the draw 75-75. Dimar Ortuz advances to 10-0-2, with 7
Knockouts. (Traditional Boxing Record)
Victor Barragan advances to 12-8-1, with 3 Knockouts.
In a Super-Middleweight bout Ronald Ellis scored a second
round stoppage over Jas Phipps. Official time of the stoppage was 1:15 of round
two. Ronald Ellis advances to 12-0, with
10 Knockouts. Jas Phipps falls to 5-6-2,
with 2 Knockouts.
Although the rematch between Shane Mosley and Ricardo
Mayorga did not resemble their closely fought first encounter, it did provide
Boxing fans entertainment even though Mosley was able to dominate much of the
fight. The only similarity of course between the first fight and the rematch was
that Mosley stopped Mayorga with one second remaining in the sixth round.
As for Shane Mosley, I believe the most important thing
will be whether or not he can stay active. If Mosley can remain active and more
importantly continue to win, it will be interesting to see whether or not he
will be able to move himself back into title contention. It will also be
interesting to see what the future holds for Ricardo Mayorga going forward.
Mayorga has always been an entertaining fighter win or lose, but one has to
wonder what may be left for him at this stage in his career coming off of
another setback.
The struggles this card faced ultimately did not prevent
the rematch between Shane Mosley and Ricardo Mayorga from coming to fruition.
Although it will be interesting to see how the pay-per-view numbers in the
United States and Canada compare to the ratings for the ESPN televised Premier
Boxing Champions card headlined by Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares, this
observer believes considering all the obstacles that were present for a time
for Mosley-Mayorga II the card, which was promoted by Shane Mosley’s GoBox Promotions
should be considered a success.
We will see what the future holds for both Shane Mosley
the fighter and the promoter.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau
Denison All Rights Reserved.
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