-Photo Credit: D M Warr/DKP-

    Ricardo Mayorga is known for a lot of things, one of those things is his constant verbal bashings of his opponents going into fights. In some cases it may have worked in his favor. Go back to Mayorga's two greatest victories against Vernon Forrest, and you could make an argument that Mayorga's pre-fight trash talking might have worked. Mayorga's machista-like trash talking got Forrest to fight Mayorga's fight, and Mayorga shockingly knocked him out.

    In their second fight, despite Forrest saying he wouldn't fall into this trap again, Mayorga was able to induce Forrest in close, and was able to win a close decision. So, there have been times when Mayorga's trash talking has worked to his advantage, but will this type of behavior work on a fighter such as Oscar de la Hoya, who seems to get motivated by such antics. I guess Saturday night will tell.

    There is of course a reason behind Mayorga's strong words going into his fights. It's simply to get under his opponent's skin, but there's a little more to it then that. It's a strategy, it's a hope that his opponent will be so infuriated that it will induce
them to come inside and try and destroy Mayorga. This is exactly what Mayorga wants. Why? Because Mayorga is a brawler, a brawler with a big punch and a great chin. So, of course it will suit him to get his opponent mad, to the point where he will ditch his game plan and try and trade with Mayorga.  

    It has been proven that Mayorga will have trouble against slick fighters, who try and stay back and box. This was evidenced by his title losing fight with Cory Spinks. So, Mayorga will try by any means necessary to coax his opponents into brawling, even if it means challenging his opponents manhood, or in Oscar's case challenging his heritage and even stooping down to disrespecting his wife.

     Mayorga is hoping Oscar will come in the ring on Saturday with a hothead and a vendetta to avenge his wife and family. He is hoping Oscar will let his anger overpower his intelligence. The key word here is hope, Oscar has been in fights similar to this where there was lots of animosity coming into the fight. In fact, one of Oscar's shining moments as a pro was in a fight that had similar animosity to this one. That fight was against Fernando Vargas, who held a personal hatred towards De la Hoya, and like Mayorga had run-ins with Oscar during the promotional press conferences. Also like Mayorga, Vargas challenged Oscar's manhood and even his heritage. Oscar didn't let it get to him, instead he let it motivate him and he turned in one of the best performances of his career.

    Mayorga's usual trash talking pre-fight strategy might not be the best thing for this particular fight, because if the past holds true, then Oscar will be very motivated, and not looking ahead to his retirement fight on September 16th. If there were any worries amongst De la Hoya fans that Oscar was looking ahead to one final mega fight, then they need not be worried, because Mayorga himself has turned Oscar's focus solely towards himself. For a fighter who has not fought in a year, and is 1-2 in his last three fights, Mayorga may have given him just the motivation he needed.  So, maybe this time the trash talking may backfire for Mayorga...

Questions? Comments? Email Tom Dickey
   
5-05-2006