Mayorga Says Mosley Damaged His Ribs

Nicaragua's Ricardo Mayorga points to the 'El Matador' tattoo on his neck.

Ricardo Mayorga’s withdrawal from Saturday night’s fight against Alfredo Angulo can be blamed on none other than the resurgent ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley.

Mayorga removed himself from the high-profile HBO fight against Angulo under a cloud of suspicion. In the last several days no concrete explanation had been given as to the exact reason why Mayorga suddenly decided not to go through with the match.

But now the real reason can now be revealed - Shane Mosley.

“Ever since the fight against Shane Mosley back in September I’ve had some pain in my ribs,” said ‘El Matador’ through a camp confidant. “I laid off for all that time after the Mosley fight and I thought I could work through it and train through it, but in the end it just became too much and I had to pull out.”

Mayorga said the injury was later aggravated in training for the Angulo fight and the pain has been on his right side - which is most likely the courtesy of Mosley’s left hook. Mayorga said he doesn’t believe he has a broken rib or ribs but he also said he isn’t sure as he has not undergone an x-ray.

“As training went on, the pain became sharp and sometimes very sharp, like somebody was sticking me with a knife,” he explained. “It made it very difficult to train for the fight and yes, I will admit, it made it hard for me to really focus and to concentrate and to get my weight down where it should have been.”


Mayorga gave a good account of himself against Mosley, but he was stopped in the last round and is still suffering from injured ribs.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Mayorga said there was no dispute over the purse that he was to be paid for the fight.

“No, no, no,” he said. “Don King was paying me one hundred thousand dollars for the fight and the contract was signed so that was not it. What it came down to was my ribs and that Angulo was a serious opponent. I’ve fought everyone…Trinidad, Oscar, Vargas, Mosley so I’m not afraid. I don’t pull out of fights. Go back and look and you’ll see that I don’t pull out of fights.”

Mayorga’s attorney and advisor Tony Gonzalez supported Mayorga’s explanation. Gonzalez told the Miami Herald that, “He got hurt about three weeks ago and still wanted to make every effort to fight Angulo. But at this stage of his career, it would be too much of a risk if he’s not completely healed.”

Mayorga said he was disappointed with having to withdraw from the Angulo fight, but he said if people were looking to blame someone, he knows just who to point the finger at:

“Mosley,” he said. “You can blame Mosley, it’s all his fault.”


February 2009