Simply put, Mayorga/Trinidad is a fight that is as important to each of these men as Tarver/Jones II was to RJ Jr., and Hopkins-De la Hoya was to Oscar. 

Of the two fighters, it is Mayorga that I find the most interesting.  Brash, occasionally vulgar, a notorious  slugger and scoundrel from Nicaragua with a perpetual Roberto Duran-ish sneer and a mouth as big as all outdoors, Mayorga is not warmly embraced by many people within the boxing community.  But he can fight - and he can certainly talk.  For instance, listening to Ricardo, you'd easily be forgiven for thinking that this fight is a lop-sided match-up between a Panzer tank and a befuddled Bambi, a battle between an ascendant immortal and a shot ex-champ with a glass jaw.  Unfortunately for him, however, his own fighting record exposes him as a Panzer - albeit a dangerous one - with rust and discoloring on the turret.  And it is for that reason that I find myself looking forward eagerly to Saturday night and to, arguably, the most important litmus test of Ricardo Mayorga's colorful career.

In assessing Mayorga's prospects, we must understand that he is a tough and dangerous - but far from polished - fighting machine with a far from burnished fighting résumé.  To begin with, Mayorga has lost - and lost badly - in the past; in addition, other significant fights in his career have likewise exposed him as crude and limited.  To begin with, he was KO'ed at an early age by the fairly forgettable Humberto Aranda.  Furthermore, Ricardo lost fairly clear decisions to a fading Roger Flores and to the less-than-imposing Henry Castillo in 1998.  Finally, Ricardo has on his record sloppy fights against Diosbelys Hurtado and Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis that added not a smidgen of luster to the Mayorga name.  What Ricardo - with all of his warts and character flaws - really has going for him as he prepares to do battle with Trinidad is the searing image of one fight.

On January 25, 2003, Mayorga - the lightly-regarded WBA welterweight champion - and WBC welterweight champion Vernon Forrest met to determine who was, indeed, the true king of the welterweights.  Forrest, tall and rangy and very talented, had twice conquered the hitherto unbeaten Shane Mosley.  A heavy favorite, he was also the favorite of more than a few boxing writers who found Mayorga's tough-guy act more than a little unpalatable.  Nonetheless, inside of three rounds, Forrest had been forcefully evicted from his supposed throne and the Welterweight division had a new, and wholly unexpected, butch on the block.

Mayorga's subsequent controversial loss to Corry Spinks - Leon's son - and his never-ending troubles outside of the ring should not change the fact that Mayorga proved conclusively that night against Forrest that he has the requisite aggression and punching power to topple most anyone in the welterweight division.  His defense is perfunctory at best, his conditioning has been questioned in the past, and he seems to struggle mightily with opponents he can neither intimidate nor physically manhandle.  But against Tito Trinidad, a fighter with a far from undentable chin and a fighter who was beaten up in his last big bout against Hopkins, he will have a chance throughout, simply because he can flat-out bang and is as aggressive as hell.

So, who wins?  Well, this is a tough one.  I can certainly see Trinidad perforating Mayorga's less than air-tight defense, and I can also see him dropping Mayorga to the canvas (Ricardo has been down before, after all).  But I also know that doubts continue to swirl around Tito because of his chin, and Mayorga - an extremely effective volume puncher when he is on - will be eager to take advantage of his opponent's perceived Achilles heel.  At the end of the day, this confrontation will be a battle determined most of all by which of these two men will least be the victim of his own limitations.

And I'm not ready to bet the farm against Ricardo Mayorga.