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While Playing Villain,
Mayorga Secretly
Apologized To Oscar
By William Trillo
Photos:
David Martin Warr- Don King Productions
Like every great actor,
Ricardo
Mayorga saved his
best for the final act.
Whether it was a calculated
maneuver or not,
Ricardo
Mayorga once again stole
the spotlight from the leading man and star of
"Danger Zone," Oscar De La
Hoya, on Wednesday.
Mayorga not only showed up
drastically late for the final press conference
of their junior middleweight championship fight on
Saturday, but just before the conference scene
closed he revealed a stunning, possible surprise
ending that was calculated to leave us dangling
until the opening curtain.
Promoted by Don King, Mayorga stole
one out of El Maestro's devious playbook. Boxing's No.
1 Drama Queen threatened to pull out
of the fight unless he is compensated with $6
million more than the $2 million he already signed
on the dotted line for.
While the media pondered what
this latest stunt by Mayorga
meant, Boxing2006/Pound4Pound has learned there was
a side plot that transpired "backstage" between the
two major players in this show.
At the request of
Mayorga, Oscar met
privately because "El Matador" wanted to, well...uh
-- we swear this is true, folks -- apologize
to Golden Boy for his endless stream of insults
during their press conferences! That's right, the
meanest, baddest, vilest boxer on earth told De La
Hoya that he was
sorry for the way he has been acting, and come
Saturday night, said he hoped the best man wins.
Confirmation that an apology was
made came from Oscar himself when he said of the
pre-press conference impromptu meeting with Mayorga,
" I accepted to talk to him. We talked, he was
mentioning how he was sorry, he mentioned how we
were going to get in the ring and this was going to
be a tough fight for both of us, and may the
best man win."
What's that you say?
Mayorga apologize?
Never! Well stay in your seats, and we'll explain
more.
Every good thriller has what is
called a "red herring," a surface plot you are made
to believe in that distracts you from the real
truth. "Danger Zone" has a beautiful red
herring, worthy of Hollywood.
First a little background on our
villain. While
Mayorga presents a
vile public persona, in private he has a softer
side. He is devoted to his wife, kids and
mother, the latter of whom was the first person he
acknowledged from
the podium at the press finale. How many of us knew
that just after his big paydays for the two fights
with Vernon Forrest, Mayorga spent $40,000
dollars so his Mother could have streets lights put
up in her impoverished neighborhood of Managua,
where he grew up. Or that
Mayorga often visits his
mother's house and doles out money to her neighbors
who are having serious financial problems. In his
mother's neighborhood
Mayorga is seen as
a benevolent Don Vito
Corleone.
There is also public evidence
that despite
Mayorga's consistent show of disrespect for Oscar during
this press tour, he actually does respect The Golden
Boy.
In a press
conference for
his fight in 2003 with Tito Trinidad,
Mayorga was asked
what he thought of
Oscar's performance against Bernard
Hopkins.
Mayorga said: "My
respect to Oscar, he proved to me that he was brave
trying to stand in front of Bernard and bring it to
him." And later repeated himself: "I do respect
Oscar. He's the only one who felt that (knockout)
punch (from Hopkins). He's the only one who knows if
he could have gotten up, but I respect him just the
same."
Still not convinced that
Mayorga may not be
the bad guy he wants you to believe that he is?
Think the private apology to Oscar days before their
fight lacks sincerity,
or that there was an ulterior motive? Then
consider this: Sources from the De La
Hoya Camp revealed
that while Oscar was in Puerto Rico training for
this Saturday night's bout he
received a letter
from our villain apologizing for the tasteless
remarks he made about De La
Hoya's wife, Millie, saying it
was wrong of him to do that and that it would not
happen again.
Notice if you go through the
tape from Wednesday's
press conference you won't find any remarks from
Mayorga directed at
Oscar's
wife, or any other of his family members.
So this Saturday night while you
are watching the big show, maybe you should revise
the way you look at Mayorga, and instead of making
him the guy we simply hate, make him the man
we "love" to hate for his brilliant, award-winning
out of ring performance -- and then boo and his
hiss to our hearts content.
Questions Or Comments? Please Contact Will "The Thrill" Trillo |
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