Mayorga: out with a second to go

I never thought I'd say this, but after his gallant and positive efforts last weekend, I actually felt sorry for Mayorga.

Adam Smith
Quotes of the week

Let me start this week by stating that I have always been a huge admirer of the silky skills, fabulous footwork, breathtaking speed, and wonderful persona - both in and out of the ring - of Shane Mosley.

His sweet success has made the personable Californian a three-weight world king; his status as a 'modern great' has long been assured.

To be honest, I haven't had much time for Ricardo Mayorga over the years. Despite fighting his way out of Nicaraguan poverty (which of course I admire), his pre-fight attacks have often left a bitter taste in the mouth.

Of course 'playing the bad guy' is often cooked up by the publicists, but when we covered him in Atlantic City, Mayorga told Cory Spinks that he would knock him out and dance over his body so that Spinks could join his dead mother in hell. Absolutely atrocious, at a time when Spinks was grieving her loss. Mayorga didn't flinch a muscle saying it either.

Mayorga has since seemingly matured and, despite his rants, appears more reasonable these days. He was certainly full of respect for Mosley, especially the fact that the Californian stood with him, despite being heavily outweighed on the night. I never thought I'd say this, but after his gallant and positive efforts last weekend, I actually felt sorry for Mayorga.

The much awaited Mosley-Mayorga clash was for the most part, disappointing. Although being hard-fought, it was scrappy, and I really felt the two old warriors showed their age. Deep into their thirties and having thrilled us for 15 years apiece, there can now be few fights left for the pair.

The finish though was unbelievable, Mosley pulling two knockdowns out of the fire in the last 20 seconds; with the left hook which flattened Mayorga the most timely punch he's ever thrown. The ending came from nowhere and the fight was waved off with one second to go. Jim Watt said that 'if you'd seen it in Rocky VII, you wouldn't believe it'!

We have indeed seen many amazing feats and endings in boxing - over the last few years, how can one forget that turnaround 10th when Diego Corrales came up off the floor twice to stop Jose Luis Castillo?

Or back home when Danny Williams fought on with a dislocated shoulder and somehow produced an incredible knockout of Mark Potter with one arm? But for sheer final-seconds, tail-end drama, that took us back to Julio Cesar Chavez and Meldrick Taylor when Richard Steele made that dramatic call with two seconds left in the last round.

This time there was one second to go! What surely would have made it an even more astonishing story is that Mosley appeared to be trailing. He had struggled to establish a rhythm, was out-hustled and really started to look sorry for himself - a sight you never normally see.

Yes, the rounds were close and tight, but our overall impression was that Mosley was losing. Look back at the tape and examine the body language again. Especially between Shane and his father Jack. Not to mention the confidence Mayorga was showing at the end of almost every round.

Like the oddsmakers who made Mosley a 10/1 on favourite to outbox and dismantle the hard and wild Nicaraguan, I felt Mosley would comfortable out-skill Mayorga, and I thought he'd finish him late(but not that late!!)

Yet, I agree with my friend Wayne McCullough's views in his blog this week - I thought Mosley was poor, and everyone on our team seemed to feel the same way.

Unanimous

So how on earth did some of the American reporters who were ringside score it heavily in favour of Mosley going into the final round? After the 11th round, the judges had the fight 105-104 Mayorga (Pat Russell), 105-104 Mosley (Nelson Vasquez) and 107-102 Mosley (Tony Crebs). Mosley would obviously have taken the 12th big, so would have won a unanimous decision. Would that have been right?

I just can't believe the scorecard of Tony Crebs, but there we go. Sometimes one just doesn't. We have all disagreed with scoring and decisions along the way.

I thought Oscar De La Hoya beat Felix Trinidad and Mosley (second time around) and on our shores, felt Damaen Kelly was robbed blind against Simone Maludrottu, while John Simpson seemed to suffer against Dazzo Williams. Fortunately, the British Board now have three judges for their title fights which largely reduces the possibility of a strange interpretation.

I understand scoring is always subjective. It is an acutely personal thing. It can even come down to which side of the ring you have been sitting, or which style one personally favours. A recent example was the controversial British heavyweight title fight between Danny Williams and John McDermott where opinion was really split. Sometimes it just happens like that.

Many believe there are home town decisions, and some go as far as saying promotional ties sway people as well. Yes, we have to flag up possibilities, even conspiracy theories and witch-hunts, but as commentators, we must call it the way we see it. Unbiased, unaffected and honestly. Of course we can make mistakes, and our view is nowhere near gospel. What ultimately matters is the verdict of the official judges.

I have the utmost of respect for the Sky Sports team, after all their years in the sport. After a hugely successful ring career, my co-commentator Jim Watt has been scoring fights for 30 years - half of his life. Glenn McCrory - the same seasoning; for 20 years - pretty much half of his life.

Johnny Nelson has been in boxing as long as most of us can remember and has turned from professional champion to ace analyst. Ian Darke has been calling boxing brilliantly for the majority of his broadcasting career.

Margins

I am relatively new in that I have been in the sport for 15 years, and commentating for almost 10. All in all though, plenty of experience between us and this time, we ALL felt that Mayorga was in the lead going into the 12th round. Our margins varied, but that was the universal feeling, and we were watching it from several different locations.

It teaches you that while there is no right or wrong, we are all going to have our views. Hopefully, the more we do this, the better we become - it is all learning, and you cannot buy experience.

What the early hours of Sunday morning also told us is that if you can find the shots, however late, scoring becomes utterly irrelevant.

That it's never ever over until the last bell tolls and that is simply another reason why our sport is the most dramatic and compelling out there.

Shane Mosley was having a bad night. He may well have slipped at 37. He will fight on - and that surely must be down at welterweight, but it goes to show that the really great champions find answers. And Sugar Shane found one of the sweetest of all last weekend.