Would you care to see two aging veterans on the decline squaring off in the ring? How about Shane Mosley and Ricardo Mayorga?
No? Why the heck not?
OK, there may have been some slight sarcasm there. In all seriousness, Shane Mosley and Ricardo Mayorga will be fighting again – some 7 years after their first clash – in a rematch scheduled for August 29th in Los Angeles. Both men have agreed to the Light Heavyweight limit.
In their first underwhelming encounter in 2008, Mosley knocked out Mayorga in the final seconds of the 12th round, at which point he was trailing behind on the cards. But what have both men been doing since?
After being stopped by Miguel Cotto in 2011, Mayorga, 41, has been dabbling more so in mixed martial arts than boxing. Mayorga has failed to make much headway in that area of pugilism, however. Mosley, thanks to his higher profile and involvement in Golden Boy Promotions, has been fighting in far bigger arenas. The ex-champion hasn’t been particularly successful either.
After shocking the world by knocking out Antonio Margarito, Mosley, now 42, took on a whole bunch of fighters he could no longer compete with. They included Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Saul Alvarez, and most recently, Anthony Mundine, who retired Mosley in 2013 (in the fight, but not entirely in terms of career…)
Mosley is a fighter, as is Mayorga. And whatever their reasons for returning to the fight game, financial or otherwise, fighter’s fight. Like it or love it, they will be trading leather in an old-timers showcase fight. Will you be watching?
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In other news, Jessie Vargas is still fighting post Bradley vs Vargas. The Welterweight contender is fighting to have his controversial defeat to Timothy Bradley on June 27th overturned.
Referee Pat Russell stopped the fight 7 seconds early after likely mistaking the 10 second clapper for the final bell – it just so happened Bradley was seriously hurt at the time and could have been taken out by Vargas.
Andy Foster, executive officer of the California State Athletic Commission, has had the pleasure of corresponding with the outraged fighter. “I am reviewing his supporting documentation,” Foster recently told ESPN.com.
To Vargas’s frustration, his appeal may not even be considered, and would only be heard at the beginning of September at the earliest.
Let’s all just be honest and say what’s we’re all thinking: Vargas is wasting time and energy here. Short of a knockout after the bell or a post-fight PED revelation, fight results are seldom changed in boxing.
That said, you can’t blame the riled Vargas for piping up and fighting for what’s right. It’s irrelevant whether or not Bradley would have survived those remaining seconds – the fact of the matter is the referee broke the rules.
To make things worse, the WBO has now upgraded Bradley’s Interim title (which he captured against Vargas) to the full world variety after Mayweather was stripped of the belt.
Let us know how you feel about Mosley vs Mayorga and Vargas’ case with the CSAC.
The BoxingBase.com writing staff provide worldwide boxing news, coverage and analysis – they can be contacted via email and social media.
