Ricardo Mayorga’s foray into mixed martial arts might be cut short before he ever steps into the cage.
Don King, Mayorga’s boxing promoter has issued a cease and desist letter to Shine Fights, who are promoting Mayorga’s first MMA bout. King claims that his contract is for exclusive representation, and that Shine Fights are risking a lawsuit by going ahead with their May 15th event. The exact wording of the contracts has not been made public, but Shine and Mayorga seem to be under the impression that Mayorga’s contract with King only pertains to boxing and nothing else. King seems to think that the contract is valid for any promotional representation, irrespective of the sport.
The ironic thing is that Mayorga took up MMA after claiming that King failed to find him any opponents in boxing. Having last fought in 2008 against Shane Mosley this might be a valid claim, although Mayorga is certainly no angel when it comes to the negotiating table either. It has been widely reported that often Mayorga would sign up for a fight only to pull out days before the event if he didn’t get more money.
Mayorga also filed a suit against King but then dropped it recently before anything was resolved. Leaving him still technically under contract with King but with King seemingly being in breach of the contract by not providing an adequate amount of opponents within the specified time frame.
Mayorga enjoying a cigarette (Photo:Showtime)
He has also recently said that if he doesn’t beat Din Thomas, his first opponent under mixed martial arts rules, that he will quit the sport. Given that Thomas is a veteran of over 30 mixed martial arts bouts and that Mayorga is getting on in years, the odds are stacked against him coming out on top.
Not to mention generally speaking, MMA fighters don’t do well in boxing and boxers don’t do well in MMA. The disciplines are just too different and very few fighters from either code tend to train properly in the other before crossing over. A common misconception is that a boxer can hit a mixed martial artist before he closes the gap. A similar misconception is that having good hands in MMA equates to being a good boxer.
Are a costly lawsuit and legal proceedings really worth King’s time or money if this is the case?
It doesn’t look like it, and I can’t imagine King was planning to get Mayorga the fights he is owed from his contract either, so the two parties using this as an opportunity to sever all ties seems like the most intelligent thing to do.
Few in boxing or MMA for that matter ever let rational thought get in the way of an expensive and pointless lawsuit though.
William, Pittsburgh: “I think this will happen more and more as MMA overtakes boxing. Lower fighters can make more if they compete in both at the same time as well”
Derek, Greensburg: “Don King trying to get his name in the papers again. What does he care about a washed up Mayorga fighting somewhere else?”
Greg, Philly: “This will end up with a lawsuit, which King will lose for breaching Mayorga’s contract in the first place”
