 |
|
Photo © David M. Warr
|
In Las Vegas the talk of the town is Joe Calzaghe’s dominant bashing of Jeff Lacy. It was a fight that was so one-sided and so thoroughly in Calzaghe’s favor that it has left a lot of people in shock. It's funny because people aren’t talking as much about how great Calzaghe was as they are talking about Lacy and whether or not he can come back.
When a fighter loses in brutal or dominant fashion, it often affects them mentally and they are never the same. We don’t know if Lacy can make it back but he showed us that his chin and heart were world class. He survived a hailstorm in the form of Calzaghe’s fists and there is the chance that he could learn from this loss. Lacy will either become another frontrunner or show us that he has what it takes to return to the spotlight.
My brother Floyd has been keeping me up to date on everything involving the much-hyped May 6th fight between Oscar de la Hoya and Ricardo Mayorga. Floyd was with Oscar and team Golden Boy during the press conferences in Los Angeles and New York and things did get very heated indeed.
Ricardo Mayorga isn’t the most skilled guy you will meet but he can run his mouth with the best of them and he had plenty of nasty things to say about Oscar. He was over the top with his actions and some people seemed a bit taken back. Some say Mayorga is simply trying to hype the fight but Floyd tells me that Oscar has some genuine hatred for ‘El Matador’ and expects Oscar to lay a beating on him come fight time.
During one of the altercations, Mayorga slapped De la Hoya on the back of the head and later began exchanging words with Floyd. My brother tells me that he told Mayorga’s translator, (Miami-based attorney Tony Gonzalez), to let him know that he would whip Mayorga if he was touched. My brother then turned his back to Mayorga, as if to tempt him to take a shot, but sure enough he wasn’t touched.
Bernard Hopkins was on hand and if anything he seemed amused by Mayorga’s antics. Guys like Bernard, Floyd, and Oscar have seen just about everything in this game and they aren’t about to be intimidated by Ricardo Mayorga. For all of his trash talk, Mayorga has to realize one thing; When the bell rings on May 6th it’s going to be just him and Oscar up in that ring and all that trash talk won’t help him one bit.
|
|
|
|
© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2006
|
By Jeff Mayweather (March 15, 2006)
