Sharkie’s Week in Boxing: Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis vs Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga

Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis Vs. Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga
(21-2-1 NC-19 KO’s) (22-3-1-1NC-20 KO’s)

01.04 - By Frank Gonzalez: From the Sovereign Center in Reading Pennsylvania, WBA Welterweight Champion Andrew Lewis fought a rematch with WBA #1 contender, Ricardo Mayorga. In their last fight back in July of 2001, an early head butt left both fighters with a No Contest on their respective records along with unanswered questions.

Lewis’ rise to fame was beating Teddy Reid in December of 1998 and then in February of 2001, beating a ‘shot’ James Page by TKO. Rumor had it that ‘Six Heads’ dodged Shane Mosley prior to Sugar’s unsweetened loss to Vernon Forrest, while some said the reverse. When their camps tried to put a fight together, issues of money hampered the process and ultimately killed the fight. Lewis has enjoyed a good reputation as a force to reckon with in the Welterweight division as the WBA’s Champion with the fancy nickname. Questions about his chin remained after his tough outing with journeyman Larry Marks though, whom he beat unimpressively in a 12 round decision.

Mayorga’s claim to fame was his first fight with Andrew ‘Six Heads’ Lewis, where he showed himself to be dangerously tough. Prior to that, he was a relatively unknown Central American fighter. In the first Lewis fight, Mayorga appeared the more dangerous fighter. Mayorga did fight another ‘now-known’ fighter in Diobelys Hurtado of Cuba, but that fight ended in a technical draw.

Eight months have passed and the cuts incurred from the head butts have healed. Both fighters have had their moments with the press, where ‘Bad Blood’ between the fighters was pushed as the promotional theme surrounding the rematch. At first I thought it was just typical hype spewed by the media, but watching Mayorga during the pre-fight interviews, humility doesn’t seem to be part of his training program. Mayorga has not been shy in saying he would knock Lewis out in the rematch no matter what tactics Six Heads tried. Lewis contended that all of Mayorga’s talk was simply that, just talk. Although Lewis tried to convey that he was unconcerned about what Mayorga was saying, it did seem that ‘El Matador’ was getting under his skin. Listening to Mayorga, you could tell that this guy was totally confident about knocking out Andrew Lewis. He even claims Lewis head butted him on purpose to save himself from being KO’d in their first fight. Bad Blood, yeah, I’d say so.

It’s always said that styles make fights and this match up would prove that to be gospel. Lewis is a boxer type who throws punches and then holds before his opponent can respond. He uses his jab and has good basic fundamental skills in the ring. He has been considered a big puncher, thus the name ‘Six Heads’ as opponents supposedly see six of him after he connects. Ok...

Mayorga is a brawler who stalks and attacks with heavy-handed power. His demeanor is that of a man certain he’ll win. He is arrogant, sneakily aggressive and 100% mean and tough. Jabbing seems a waste of his time; he just looks to take you out when the opportunity arrives. He is willing to take some punches in order to deliver his own. His biggest assets are his heart, power and confidence.

* * *

The Fight

Ricardo Mayorga, who was born in Nicaragua, but now hails from San Jose Costa Rica, entered the ring first. When Lewis, a native of Guyana by way of Brooklyn New York made his way to the ring, Ricardo blocked his way of entrance, still psychologically taunting ‘Six Heads.’ As the referee, Rudy Battle, gave the instructions, Lewis looked up and away, while El Matador looked dead at him. Rudy Battle told the fighters to touch gloves, Mayorga refused to do so.

Both fighters spent most of the first round sizing each other up. Not too much action early until Mayorga caught Lewis with a couple of good shots in retaliation for a couple of soft shots Lewis landed. Lewis fought bravely, pressing the action. My system of scoring is based on effective aggression, ring generalship, defense and clean punching. Mayorga’s punches were the more damaging and he wins the first round on my card.

Before the bell rang to open the second round, Mayorga jumped up and charged to mid-ring as Lewis answered the charge causing Rudy Battle to send them back to their corners. The bell rang to begin as he was sending them back. Late in the second round, Lewis landed plenty of solid shots, but they didn’t appear to faze Mayorga. El Matador responded with about three very hard shots that confirmed for Lewis that this would not be an easy night. Ricardo hurt Andrew in this round but Six Heads was the aggressor. I scored this round even, although it could easily be argued that Mayorga inflicted the greater damage.

In the third round, Lewis came out aggressive, looking to out-box Mayorga and landing a few punches that seemed to have no little effect. Mayorga again answered with some heavy-handed shots that rocked all of Lewis’ Six Heads. Although Lewis had the higher connect percentage, it was Mayorga’s power punches that shook the foundation of Lewis’ consciousness. Mayorga said he would KO Lewis by the third; he did not, but did win the round by inflicting the most punishment.

The fourth round was more of the same, with Lewis trying to aggressively box the slugger. If Lewis had any real power, Mayorga would have been in trouble as he is very hittable. Lewis best punches made Mayorga’s chin look like granite. Valiantly, Lewis kept the pressure on and connected with some good shots including a big right uppercut to Ricardo’s chin. Six Heads looked close to being in serious trouble as Mayorga slowly but surely landed exactly six power punches that rocked Lewis badly. I was really looking to give Lewis a round for all his effort and bravery but El Matador again inflicts the most damage and wins another round.

In the fifth round, Ricardo took control by cutting off the ring, while setting up to attack again. Mayorga knew Lewis couldn’t hurt him and after Lewis got a few shots in, Ricardo connected with a power combination of left and right hooks that sent Lewis to the canvas at 1:09 of the fifth round. Six Heads was on his feet at the count of six, but when asked by the referee if he wanted to continue, Lewis didn’t say, “Yes.” He just looked dazed and almost to be shaking his head left to right instead of up and down. The referee embraced Lewis and stopped the fight right there. Mayorga had won by TKO.

The Judge’s scorecards were shown as follows:

Lynn Carter of Pennsylvania had it- 38-38 even

Robert Grasso, also of Pa. had it- 38-38 even

Guillermo Perez of Panama had it 39-38 for Mayorga

I had it 40-37 for Mayorga, who I felt never lost a round.

Bobby Czyz claims to have had Lewis ahead by a point. You really have to wonder what is the basis for his score?

Press Row had it as follows:

Dan Rafael of USA Today- 39-37 Lewis

Tim Smith of the Daily News- 39-37 Lewis

Don Stewart of the Reading Eagle- 39-37 Mayorga

Luckily for Mayorga he scored a knock out or who knows what injustice might have occurred at the hands of the Judges.

I thought rounds were scored based on effective aggression, defense, clean punches and ring generalship. I can only imagine there must be some financial incentive for using ‘selective vision’ when scoring fights that involve Showtime’s contracted fighters or Champions. Maybe Lewis won a round or two on bravery alone, but to be ahead in a fight where he was clearly close to being knocked out in every round save the first is questionable at the least. Surely he was the more talented boxer but he was not the better fighter.

* * *

During the post fight interviews, Showtime’s Larry Michael asked Lewis to tell him what was going on in the scene of him getting rocked and dropped as it appeared on the monitor. Lewis mumbled in his thick Guyanese accent something about him being able to continue and bias against him. Then Larry Michael asked the dumbest question, “How did it feel to see your self getting knocked out on the monitor?” Although Lewis lost the fight, he fought bravely and deserved at least some courtesy.

With Bobby Czyz on a mission to use the word ‘behoove’ a few times in a sentence and Steve Alberts’ lame play by play calls, where in the first 10 seconds of the fight he said it was obvious that Mayorga was starting slow. Huh? The fight hadn’t even taken any shape at that point. Obviously Showtime has consistent standards in who they hire for their Boxing Programs. Too bad for viewers.

While interviewing the winner, Ricardo Mayorga was asked to what did he attribute this win. Mayorga said first off, he wanted to, “Thank God and Don King for the opportunity.” He said Abel Pacheco, the new president of Costa Rica had promised him a new house and $100,000- if he would keep his promise and win by knock out. Obviously Mayorga’s success will be beneficial to the small Central American nation in terms of publicity. He also said Don King promised to buy him a new Yellow Corvette if he won. Don King laughed standing at his side. It’s my guess that the price of the Corvette will come from Mayorga’s purse winnings, but no one seemed concerned about King’s crookedness so much as Mayorga’s impressive win. King ranted about how unappreciative Andrew Lewis was after he took care of him so long and jumped from King’s ship to a new manager, Nelson Fernandez.

It seems Mayorga, who has now risen from poverty, will now be able to help his family progress into the ranks of the elite in his home country of Costa Rica. As far as talking big, he sure did back his word up and deliver the knock out like he said he would. Not in the third round, but in the fifth.

Since his actual weight in this fight was 154 pounds, maybe he should move up to Super-welter where he’d be a natural and deal with the likes of Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright and Fernando Vargas. If he beat those guys, he’d rule that division. Super-welter seems his natural weight anyway.

Ricardo Mayorga proved to be a dangerous factor in the Welterweight Division. How will the new WBA Champ fare against the WBO’s Antonio Margarito, or Shane Mosley? Now new questions arise for WBC established Welterweight Champ Vernon Forrest, can he beat Mayorga? I say with Mayorga’s demeanor, he has a great chance against anyone in his division. His disruptive style may unify the titles if he gets the opportunity. For whatever its worth, this is Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga’s shinning moment.

Agree or disagree? Send comments to dshark87@hotmail.com

PS- I’d like to credit Tom Casino (Showtime) and Ed Muholand (Fightnews.com) for the great pictures.

Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis meets his match in Ricardo Mayorga

By Callie Hollis

01.04 - In what was viewed to be an upset Saturday night in Reading, Pennsylvania, Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis (Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime) received two devastating right hands right from Ricardo "El Matador" Mayorga. In all actuality, even though this was a title defense for Lewis, it was fairly predictable after the first round that Lewis had no idea how to counter Mayorga's intense attack. If ever there was a time when a fighter should have fought the other man's fight, then Saturday night would have been the night. From the onset it seemed as if Lewis expected his persistent jab to overcome the unpredictable style of Mayorga, but a technical fighter Mayorga is not.

Before the actual fight, bad blood, which seems to be an ongoing theme these days in boxing, appeared to affect Lewis before he even entered the ring. To his credit however, Lewis stayed with his game plan, although it proved to be ineffective. Lewis has good hand speed and good instincts, but Saturday night's fight did not do much to prove that he throws any power. Most of the punches that Lewis landed did little to faze Mayorga, who fought with focus and intensity probably fueled by a few lucrative deals that depended on the outcome. Mayorga fought hungry and that hunger probably won him the title. By round two it was fairly easy to predict Lewis's style. He never varied from the strict plan that he apparently thought would overcome in the long run, but Mayorga was not an easy fighter to counter.

His style is explosive and hard to follow, whereas Lewis's style left him open for the wide-armed attack launched by "El Matador". Round three was a questionable round because Mayorga started to show signs of fatigue, but Lewis never capitalized on his moments of weakness. The first solid combination that Lewis landed occurred in round four, but aggression proved to be his weakness. Lewis never followed up on the openings he made. He got and got out. There were at least four times when he could have stayed in and done damage, but something went wrong. Lewis was either incredibly thrown off by Mayorga's style, or he felt that his strict style and straight punches would land and accomplish. Either way, Mayorga almost finished Lewis just before the bell in round four with a left uppercut.

One minute and eight seconds into round five, Mayorga proved that mad flurries and a constant onslaught paid off by taking Lewis out by technical knockout. After the referee concluded that Lewis was not competent to continue, Mayorga was declared the winner and Lewis suffered the first defeat of his career.

In the future expect to see Lewis adapting to a more free-flowing style. During the post-fight interviews Lewis claimed that he would have been able to continue, but to the people watching the fight, it was apparent that a continuance could have led to a potential blood-bath. In the fight for the WBA Welterweight Title it was the classic case of a boxer being out-classed by a true brawler. The big question is: what is next for Mayorga? "El Matador" answered that question himself when asked what the key to victory was. His answer? - "the opportunity". Hopefully the future holds quite a few more opportunities for the talented, charismatic and truly raw fighter from Costa Rica.

With Recent Upsets, There Is New Life Among The Welterweights

By Kent Appel

31.03 - Just one year ago it seemed that Sugar Shane Mosley was just taking his time in unifying the welterweight title. After all, as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, he had to be king of the welterweights, right?

Fast-forward to 2002 and things are not so simple in what is now one of the most exciting divisions in the sport of professional boxing.

The first shocking change to the status quo took place in January of this year when Vernon Forrest easily outpointed Mosley to drop the previously unbeaten WBC champion from his general consensus perch atop the division. If this wasn't enough to cause an upheaval among the welterweights, just last night a second upset occurred when challenger Ricardo Mayorga knocked out Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis to topple Lewis from the ranks of the unbeaten and to capture the WBA title. With the IBF title vacant at this time, the race to rule the welterweights seems wide open.

The situation kind of reminds me of the period of the late 1970s and early 1980s when there was an abundance of talent among the welterweights. With Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Wilfredo Benitez, Pepino Cuevas, and Carlos Palomino all holding titles at one time or another, the division was very much alive and no champion could rest on his laurels or risk losing what he had worked so hard to obtain.

I am looking forward to seeing how the current welterweight situation unfolds. After the new IBF champion is crowned, I would like to see the title unified. There are several attractive match ups that could take place for example, newly crowned WBA champion Mayorga could face whoever the new IBF king is with the winner to meet WBC champion Forrest to determine one champion.

If the powers that be let the champions face each other, and with ex champions like Mosley and Lewis waiting in the wings to try and regain their glory, as well as talented contenders like Cory Spinks, Michele Piccurillo, and Thomas Damgaard all waiting for their chance at the gold; the welterweight division could be very exciting in the near future. If the usual politics from the various governing bodies and various promoters doesn't get in the way, there could be a host of attractive match ups. In addition to some of the bouts that could occur, the idea that junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu might want to move up a weight class and join the fray makes the welterweight division the division to watch.