THE CRAZIEST MAN IN BOXING!

It was only one year ago aged 46, that boxing’s most controversial character Ricardo Mayorga finally called it a day. And despite a slow decline in ability and opposition over the last 5 years, the two-weight world champion left behind a lasting legacy for a variety of reasons – everything from the surprisingly good to the shockingly bad. Watch and enjoy Motivedia’s knockout presentation below…

Starting out in the capital city of Managua, for Ricardo, things were certainly far from easy. He grew up in a poor family, one with strong resolve but limited opportunities. Though having fought as an amateur through his teens, it was his role in the army that finally gave him an outlet to box. And whist we never really saw airtight precision or military discipline, it was instead his fearlessness and unbreakable spirit that shone through – factors that made him all the more dangerous as he entered the professional ranks aged 20.

After 8 years in the pro game from 2000 onwards is when his rough and ready style finally hit the big stage. Within a year of his US debut, he had claimed his first world title, knocking out Andrew Lewis just weeks after his 31st birthday. The year after, he beat Vernon Forrest twice, in a pair of performances which highlighted that despite his rough and rugged approach, he could be a real threat to the current crop of welterweights.

It was over the next few years alongside the bright lights and the sense of belonging, that we saw matador become the bull. Boxing fans were treated to the good, the bad and the ugly as with his exponential increase in popularity, the Nicaraguan seemed to continually up the antics and as much as he talked a good game, he never backed down from a challenge either, facing the very best to come his way. Including the likes of Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya, Fernando Vargas, Shane Mosely and even Miguel Cotto.

And whilst he lost a handful on the way, most noticeably to the hands of the Golden boy, each fight seemed to bring a new level of heat and the fans loved him. Antics went far beyond the press conferences into some of the most obnoxious ring taunting the ring has ever seen. So much and so often that it became a genuine quirk to his style, whereby he drew opponents in with low hands, an exposed chin to then capitalise with hard, precise, power shots. Also, where his antics made him seem clumsy and reckless, it gave the man opposite a false sense of security, but just like the saying goes, a man with nothing to lose is a dangerous man. Whilst he was certainly no pretty boy in the fundamentals department, he still brought hell to a lot of top names.

A fearless rogue warrior and tough old dog who picked up a few new tricks on the way, its hard to hate the man that made it nothing to the top of the welterweight division, purely through his chin, his punch and his kahunas. Some might say he’s underrated, while others say he’s fine right where he is. But the cigarette smoking, liquor drinking, trash talking Nicaraguan certainly won the hearts of many through a notorious 25-year campaign. The two time and two division world champion, Ricardo Mayorga remains one of the wildest, craziest and toughest men to ever grace a boxing ring.

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Motivedia presentations