Former boxing champion Ricardo Mayorga moving to MMA with Shine Fights

[Shogun Locc]

Colorful boxing veteran Ricardo Mayorga, who's fought everyone from Oscar De La Hoya to Shane Mosley to Félix Trinidad, is heading to the world of mixed martial arts.

The Ohio-based Shine Fights, which held its second-ever event on Friday in Florida, made the announcement during its online pay-per-view broadcast of the show.

No debut date or opponent have been determined for Mayorga, a former WBA/WBC welterweight and WBC junior middleweight champion who owns a 29-7-1 career record.

Mayorga, a 35-year-old native of Nicaragua, debuted professionally as a boxer in 1993. He hit his stride from 1999 to 2003 by going 16-0-1 with 13 knockouts. He concluded the streak with a TKO of Vernon Forrest for the WBC/WBA welterweight belt and won the rematch via majority decision six months later. (Forrest was 35-0 entering their first meeting.)

Since then, though, Mayorga has alternated between wins and losses and is just 3-4 in his past seven fights. He most recently suffered a 12th-round knockout loss to Mosley in September 2008.

Mayorga recently sued Don King for his inability to find him a fight and for alleged violations of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act. In the interim, it appears he'll begin preparations for a late-career run in MMA.

Mayorga wouldn't be the first pro boxer to try MMA, but he certainly would be one of the bigger and more accomplished names to make the transition.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

He'll do OK....

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

It completely depends on who they match him up with. Put him against a grappler and it'll be over fast.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

You can't really say that. That's a big MMA myth that unfortunately almost all MMA fans believe. By that statement, you can say anyone that doesn't know how to grapple will be beaten by a grappler. So basically the key to beating people in the street is learning how to grapple, as long as the other person doesn't know how to grapple. I never understand why MMA fans always assumed these things.

If I had a choice to fight 2 people, a professional boxer or a professional grappler....I'll take the grappler in second.

I can train a couple months to prevent the take down. Short training wouldnt prevent me from getting lit up by a boxer.

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

You can't really say that. That's a big MMA myth that unfortunately almost all MMA fans believe. By that statement, you can say anyone that doesn't know how to grapple will be beaten by a grappler. So basically the key to beating people in the street is learning how to grapple, as long as the other person doesn't know how to grapple. I never understand why MMA fans always assumed these things.

If I had a choice to fight 2 people, a professional boxer or a professional grappler....I'll take the grappler in second.

I can train a couple months to prevent the take down. Short training wouldnt prevent me from getting lit up by a boxer.

I guess you didn't see Kimbo vs Ray Mercer. Kimbo, with a minimal amount of grappling, submitted Ray Mercer with ease. And yes, in a 1 vs 1 street fighting situation grappling reigns supreme. This was proven in the earlier UFCs.

Also you don't learn to "prevent the take down" in a couple months rofl.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

What about Mercer vs Silvia? I could plead the same case with the exact same fighter.
MMA fighters are knocking on boxing trainers doors lately. Rampage, Silva, etc.

I've prevented plenty of take downs. Sprawling is common sense. It's all about timing.

I'm 5'9 165/170
I'll go study grappling and then go beat Kessler, Pavlik, and Abraham. Then I'll put on a couple more pounds and then take on Chad Dawson.

Not starting an MMA vs Boxing discussion. Just saying, you can't automatically assume a boxer will lose just because he is facing someone who does ground work.

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

What about Mercer vs Silvia? I could plead

What does this have to do with putting a boxer against a grappler??? There was 0 grappling in that fight. When was the last time Tim Sylvia tried to grapple with someone?

MMA fighters are knocking on boxing trainers doors lately. Rampage, Silva, etc.

Once again this has NOTHING to do with a boxer vs grappling. Of course MMA fighters are going to go train with boxers! There's nothing better than boxing to improve your hands. Also all those guys you listed already know how to grapple...

I've prevented plenty of take downs. Sprawling is common sense. It's all about timing.

Who's take downs have you prevented? Have you ever wrestled with a REAL college wrestler?? If sprawling is such common sense and learning wrestling is such a easy thing to do, than why does wrestling dominate MMA? Wouldn't everyone just be able to be able to stop a take down if it was such a easy thing to learn and "common sense"?

Almost everything you said has nothing to do with having a boxer fight a grappler.

Not starting an MMA vs Boxing discussion.

co-sign

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Mercer vs Silvia didn't have anything to do with grappling because Silvia got KO'd in seconds. I'm sure taking Mercer down was in his game plan, before he got laid out by an old fart.

Wrestled with REAL college wrestlers? Hell no, I would get murdered. Been in actual fights with college wrestlers? Yes. Their wrestling did nothing, especially when one guy got kneed in the face for dropping his head down and trying to double hook me like a moron. Another time one guy did get me down but he ended up in a headlock by the time we hit the floor and that wasn't a good situation for him either. I have ZERO professional ground training, I've just been in a lot of fights. Nevertheless...anyone who knows how to fight has some basic knowledge of what to do when someone grabs them. Could a wrestler beat my ass tomorrow? For sure, a fight is a fight. Do I have absolutely no chance because he wrestles and I strike? He would be crazy to think that.

Give Mayorga a chance. He has a pretty good one. Not a chance at the belt, not even close, but better than the Class C Italian Sakara.

 

[naner12]

Who's take downs have you prevented? Have you ever wrestled with a REAL college wrestler?? If sprawling is such common sense and learning wrestling is such a easy thing to do, than why does wrestling dominate MMA? Wouldn't everyone just be able to be able to stop a take down if it was such a easy thing to learn and "common sense"?

Not trying to make this an MMA vs. boxing argument but we haven't seen any real good boxers in MMA because the pay scale difference is huge. Why fight in MMA when if you can become a high level boxer you'd get paid big money instead of peanuts.

I'll use this as an example. I doubt many people have heard of Rafael Concepcion before.

http://insidefights.com/2009/08/14/rafael-concepcion-misses-weight/

An 115lb boxer had a guaranteed purse of $65,000 and his opponent Nonito Donaire almost assuredly made more.

If you had plenty of high level boxers coming into MMA there's no doubt some of these guys would have success. There hands are unmatched in MMA.

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

My arguments are based off style vs style in MMA match and nothing to do with boxing vs MMA as sports.

 

[naner12]

My arguments are based off style vs style in MMA match and nothing to do with boxing vs MMA as sports.

I know, what I'm saying is your argument is partially flawed. You ask why does wrestling dominate MMA and you're correct that for the most part it does. It's a dominate style in MMA and a strong wrestler with good submission defense can go far in the sport.

The part that's flawed is using MMA being mostly wrestling dominated as the reason to why a high level boxer wouldn't do well. We don't know that for sure because their hasn't been ANY high level boxers making a switch to MMA in their prime and the reason is because the money simply isn't there.

Before MMA high level wrestlers didn't have anything to transition into unless they were huge and wanted to go in entertainment "professional" wrestling. A high level amateur boxer is going to go into boxing because there's better opportunity for him to make money and much more of it. When pay starts increasing in MMA you'll see some guys switching and then we'll just have to wait to see how it plays out.

.. and I agree 100% with 714 on Mercer/Sylvia. There's no doubt that Sylvia probably wanted to take Mercer down .. unfortunately for him all it took was one punch to the chin to remove him from consciousness. An ancient boxer far removed from his best days leveled a top 10 MMA fighter in 9 seconds. To say that a not so ancient boxer wouldn't be able to defeat a grappler is crazy, even though Mayorga is fairly passed it himself he's nowhere near as removed from real competition as Mercer was.

.. sorry for the book heh

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

The part that's flawed is using MMA being mostly wrestling dominated as the reason to why a high level boxer wouldn't do well.

That part of my argument had nothing to do with boxers and more to do with what Kali said about learning wrestling technique being easy and common sense.

.. and I agree 100% with 714 on Mercer/Sylvia. There's no doubt that Sylvia probably wanted to take Mercer down ..

I don't understand how you can say that? Tim Sylvia didn't attempt a shot at all, or make a push to clinch towards the fence. Remind me again when was the last time Tim Sylvia tried to take someone down? Because I don't think i've ever seen it. Tim Sylvia is an idiot and tried to stand there with a former olympic gold medalist, heavyweight champ. BIG MISTAKE.

 

[naner12]

That part of my argument had nothing to do with boxers and more to do with what Kali said about learning wrestling technique being easy and common sense.



I don't understand how you can say that? Tim Sylvia didn't attempt a shot at all, or make a push to clinch towards the fence. Remind me again when was the last time Tim Sylvia tried to take someone down? Because I don't think i've ever seen it. Tim Sylvia is an idiot and tried to stand there with a former olympic gold medalist, heavyweight champ. BIG MISTAKE.

Remind me again when was the last time he fought a former boxing champ with no previous training in anything but boxing? If Sylvia was thinking about going to the ground then he's the biggest idiot to ever make it in the top 10 of any sport. I don't think he had any time to try and do anything against Mercer. He threw a shitty leg kick and was immediately decapitated.

EDIT .. and I agree with you that it wouldn't be that easy to stop a takedown from a strong high level wrestler. There's guys that wrestle their whole lives and can't stop some people's takedowns.

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

Anyways i'm not rooting against Mayorga at all. Shit I am Nicaraguense and have been cheering him on forever. I just think a lot his success in his early MMA career will depend on who they match him up with. From what I heard is he's been training with American Top Team for awhile(not sure if this is 100% confirmed) so he should do fine.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Looks like Mayorga is doing MMA since he has legal problems with boxing as of now. I'm sure once the lawsuits are settled he'll be boxing again, he's just tryin to make some money while he can.

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

Ricardo Mayorga's deal with Shine Fight official, MMA debut expected in 2010
by John Morgan on Sep 08, 2009 at 3:15 pm ET

Upstart Shine Fight Promotions announced at this past Saturday's "American Top Team vs. The World" event that former boxing champion Ricardo Mayorga (28-7 boxing) would soon make his mixed martial arts debut at a yet-to-be-announced Shine event.

On Monday, Mayorga officially signed a multi-fight deal with the organization, and Shine Fight matchmaker Ron Foster told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he hopes to have Mayorga debut in early 2010.

And Foster said Mayorga isn't planning a slow rise to the top.

"I'm going after some tough competition for Mayorga because I don't want it to look like we're trying to feed him guppies," Foster said. "He says he wants to fight for real, so let's let him fight. He said, 'I'm from the streets. I'm a real fighter. I'm bored with boxing, and I want to fight.'"

Mayorga last saw action in the boxing ring in a September 2008 loss to Shane Mosely. The loss capped off a 3-4 stretch for Mayorga that dates back to 2003.

Despite the rough stretch, Foster insists Mayorga has plenty to offer.

"We're not trying to do any gimmicks," Foster said. "The guy is a good fighter. He's a two-time world boxing champion.

"I was reading on a few forums today where people were saying, 'Oh, Mayorga is washed up because he's 3-4 in his past seven fights.' He lost to Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Felix Trinidad and Cory Spinks – guys that were world champions. How can he be washed because he lost to them? Two of them he went the distance, and he lost to Shane Moseley in the 12th round. Three out of those four fights went to the 12th round."

While Mayorga fought predominantly between 147 and 154 pounds during his boxing run, Foster said "El Matador" will compete at 155 pounds in MMA. Mayorga has worked a bit with American Top Team, and Foster said fans will be in for a treat when the former champ makes is debut.

"He's the Nick Diaz of boxing," Foster said. "He's not going to back down from anybody, and he's always got a finger in someone's face."