Earlier today WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and former welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga made their grand arrivals to the city of Las Vegas as they invaded the hotel lobby of the MGM Grand. Cotto defends his crown against the trash-talking Nicaraguan inside of the Garden Arena on Saturday night in a fight that could lead to huge opportunities for each man.
Our friend from BoxingScene.com, Ryan Burton, was on the scene as was able to get a few sound bytes from Mayorga and his promoter Don King. Throughout the lead up of the fight, Mayorga has been unrelenting with this bashing of Cotto, calling him less of a man and a failure as a champion, among other things.
<--- Slideshow: Images of Miguel Cotto and Ricardo Mayorga making their grand arrivals
With the fight now just four days away, Mayorga again insisted that an early round knockout is within reach.
“Don’t worry,” Mayorga barked. “I am going to win by knockout in the fourth round for sure.”
King has been guiding Mayorga’s career for over ten years now and is used to all the antics and theatrics that come from him during fight week. Perhaps that was why he had another fight on his mind when he discussed his plans to stage a rematch between Felix Trinidad and Bernard Hopkins down the road.
Trinidad, a longtime King staple, lost to Hopkins in dominant fashion in September of 2001 inside of Madison Square Garden in the finale of King’s Middleweight Tournament but the bombastic promoter insists the fight wasn’t fought on even terms as it took place a few weeks after the tragic September 11th disaster.
“If there is one fight I want to see again it is Tito and Bernard Hopkins,” said King. “Hopkins arrived the day of the weigh in. He didn’t have to deal with everything that went on with 9/11 while Tito was helping out. I want a rematch on equal terms. Before Tito retires again he needs that rematch!”
Interestingly enough, Trinidad’s first fight back from his initial, short-lived retirement was a Garden clash against Mayorga in October of 2004. In that bout a game Mayorga showed great heart but was overwhelmed by Trinidad’s accuracy and punching power, eventually folding in the 8th round.
Many are expecting Cotto, Trinidad’s countryman from Puerto Rico, to dispatch Mayorga in a similar fashion.
