By Pablo Fletes, notifight.com
Everything seemed to indicate that the boxing career of two-division world champion Ricardo Mayorga had come to an end. Nearly a year and a half without a fight, just three fights in the last six years, made it clear that his career was basically over - and even more so that he's about to turn 44 years old.
However, Mayorga is determined to "burn" his last cartridges in one final comeback run - and for that reason he sought help from Bufalo Boxing Promotions, which is managed by Ruth Rodríguez and her husband, two-time world champion Rosendo Alvarez.
This past Thursday at a press conference staged by Bufalo Boxing Promotions, at the Nicaraos Casino, Rosendo announced the return of Mayorga for the first of April, as part of card being organized in Managua.
"We are going to give Ricardo the support he deserves, because he has been one of the greatest bulls in Nicaraguan boxing history. He was involved in the biggest fights in our history when he faced Tito Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya , Fernando Vargas and Vernon Forrest when he was the best pound for pound in the world," Álvarez explained.
"Our goal is that Ricardo arrives in good condition to this fight, that is why we moved the date from February 18 to April 1. We will supervise his daily training, take care of him, because we will not put him at risk and prepare him conscientiously.
Mayorga, meanwhile, said he will take things seriously for this fight, when he faces a Mexican opponent in the super middleweight division.
"It motivates me to keep on fighting because my little children have not seen me fight live. My little boy, he puts on his gloves and always talks about me fighting, which encourages me to continue and also I have the support of my mother, my family."
Although almost no one believes him, Mayorga said he is training at the Alexis Argüello Gymnasium in Managua and doing morning exercises for the last few weeks to be physically fit.
"I'm running from Monday to Saturday, I'm running 54 kilometers a week. The important thing is to have oxygen to fight again," he said.
Mayorga last fought in August 2015, when he was knocked out by former world champion Shane Mosley in a rematch. His record is 31-9-1, with 25 KO's. His first big boxing victory was in March 2002, when he defeated Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight title.
He faced rivals like Vernon Forrest, Cory Spinks, Felix "Tito" Trinidad, Oscar De la Hoya, Fernando Vargas, Miguel Cotto, among others. He lost most of the big fights, but he was a fierce boxer, who always generated a great interest.
As part of this card, Bufalo Boxing Promotions also announced the home soil debut of former world champion Randy "El Matador" Caballero, who is based in Coachella, California, United States.
Randy was a bantamweight champion under the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and he just signed a new contract with Golden Boy Promotions and has always had a lot of interest in fighting in Nicaragua.