Jack Welsh
www.ringsports.com

It’s a good kick in life when a person can approach his prime endeavor nutured with confidence, but if the same party uses the quality in access, it can be like a shaky ride down nine miles of bad road.

Such could be the scenario embracing Ricardo Mayorga, arguably’s boxing’s newest hurricane, as he trains dilligently to prove that spectacular victory over Vernon Forrest was much more than a warm kiss from Dame Fortune to claim the WBC welterweight title six months back while defending as the WBA counter-part in Temecula, Ca.

The irrepressible Mayorga, emerging from Managua, Nicaragua as a sleeper, was virtually unknown in America and a 10-1 underdog with Nevada’s licensed bookmakers before chilling the undefeated Forrest in three rounds.

There are numerous people in boxing who feel Forrest, a superb boxer, outsmarted himself trying to go to war with the ambitious Latin American early.

This scattered opinion gained credence when the Silver State’s veteran oddsmakers made the ex-champion from Atlanta,Ga., an early favorite at minus $3.20 with Mayorga at plus $2.50 for their HBO pay-per-view 12-rounder July 12 at the Orleans hotel-casino’s spanking-new 8,000-seat The Arena.

The 29-year-old Mayorga is an ego-eccentric whose review of his opponents makes the
bombastic Hector Camacho, Sr., of the ‘80s loom as a Trappist monk.

When promoter Don King’s triple title card had a media luncheon May 20 at the Orleans, nobody had a better time than Mayorga even though King and Forrest had previous appointments that turned them into to “no shows” although the latter delivered his message with a long distance call.

Mayorga speaks no English at this juncture but he is blessed with Hector Perez, his trainer from San Antonio, Tx.,who translates Spanish with adroit continuity and logic.

“I appreciate the American people respecting me and I’ll like to be fighting in Las Vegas. I hope all the Spanish people will come to see me fight. I feel very confident and I thank what the media has done for me in the United States,” the dual champion said.

“I hope the public will come early to the Orleans because it’s not going to be a very long night.I guess you can say I’m a little crazy but in the ring I am in charge and Forrest will have no surprises for me. I may act crazy sometimes but I know what to do in the
ring and in this rematch. I’m going to unload and Forrest won’t be able to fight me. In a way,I don’t like to go back and fight guys I have already beaten, but this is for a championship.”
Mayorga implied he will be out for “a two-round knockout” in improvig his 24-3-1,1 NC, 22 KOs.

“I don’t think Forrest can fight any better than he did the last time. Whatever he does, I’ll have a counter for it. People talk about his jab, but Forrest can’t take my jab. Nobody can take my jab. He didn’t hurt me at any time at all. It’s not going to be any
different.This time I want to stop him in two rounds just to show him,” said the 147-pound champion.

In a sense, Perez, one of the most versatile conditioners in the Southwest, backed into the
chance to train the flamboyant Mayorga.

“I got a call one day from Don King who said there was some troubles in camp and he wanted to know if I was available to come to Ft.Pierce, Fla., and help them out.Ricardo had already been in training but that was about four weeks before the Forrest fight. I knew he was devoted to his mother who would be at the fight and who had worked hard in raising him,” said Perez.

“I told him straight out that you will win or lose and since your mother wlll be watching, I don’t want her see you get beat. Ricardo went all out against Forrest and shocked the world in beating the two-time conqueror of Sugar Shane Mosley.”

It was also the first time the Lone Star State trainer had worked with a wørld-class fighter whose habits out of the ring included chain-smoking cigarettes and drinking beer.

“Ricardo started smoking when he was 11 years old. When he stopped Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis in five rounds to win the WBA ttle in March a year ago he lit up after the fight was over. He would normally smoke two packs a day. Once in training, he cut to seven smokes a day and eventually down to three. I don’t know anybody in boxing who does that but it doesn’t bother Mayorga’s stamina,” said Perez.

Perez feels the pressure might be more on Mayorga in the rematch, notably among the ring experts who feel the new champion will have to do it again to avoid being stuck with a “fluke” ending.

“Whatever Forrest wants to do ---box or slug---I’ll accommodate him. When you fight a guy who is kind of wild, you want to let him know right away he has to show you some respect. That is what I tried to do. After being down late in the first round, Forrest started trading wild punches with me in the second and third rounds.When I hit him with a right, I knew he was going down in the third round.Then I hit hi m with a left to get him out of the ring and the referee (Marty Denkin) stopped it.”

Forrest,32, blames only himself for being upset by Mayorga, especially after being Fighter of the Year 2002 by such prestigious vehicles as Boxing Writers Association of America, World Boxing Hall of Fame, USA Today, Ring Magazine and ESPN Friday Night Fights.

“There is no way I should have lost to Mayorga but there is no alibis because I broke two of boxing’s cardinal rules. For No.1, you should never let yourself fight angry. And about No.2, never punch with a puncher. Fortunately, there was a clause in the contract for an immediate rematch. I have accepted the loss and I am moving on.I know I will take care of business the next time,“ said the deposed titleholder whose resume is now 35-1, 26 KOs.

Although he did not elaborate, Forrest,co-trained by Al Mitchell and Ronnie Shields, admitted he was bothered by some personal distractions before the first fight with Mayorga.

“I find it very humorous when Mayorga said I didn’t make the press conference because I was afraid to face him. The only thing I have on my mind is getting that title back and I had a previous engagement or I would been in Las Vegas today,” Forrest said via a long distance call.

“In life, everybody gets lucky once in a while and I don’t think Mayorga realizes how lucky he got the first time. He sounds like he is underestimating me like I underestimated him. I’m glad Ricardo is talking while I’m preparing for this fight, the one he didn’t see the last time. Let‘s see whose talking July 13.”

If the Orleans management was giving out treats for the best quote of the day, Mayorga won in romp in telling a scribe ,“my biggest thing in boxing was God putting the face of Don King in front of me.”