Don King is up to his old shenanigans again, and Ricardo Mayorga is having none of it.
Mayorga is set to fight Shane Mosley at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. on Aug. 29, but King is trying to intercede. The infamous boxing promoter filed a motion in Florida to block the fight, arguing that Mayorga is still under contract with him.
Mayorga, who retired after losing to Miguel Cotto in 2011, fought twice last year and is looking for a pay day. Perhaps he needs the money because King took millions that he was owed throughout his career.
“He will not stop the fight,” Mayorga said of King via ESPN Deportes. “This man is ridiculous, and his time has passed. He just has a desire to disrupt. Has he not stolen enough from me? Like he stole $21 million from the pay-per-view with De La Hoya. He told me it didn’t make any money and it was most successful event of the year.”
Mayorga burst onto the scene in 2003 when he handed the late Vernon Forrest his first career losses. The Nicaraguan fighter’s drinking, smoking and partying ways made him a cult figure and allowed him to secure fights with many other big-name boxers, such as De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad and Fernando Vargas. He should have made millions from those fights, but he says King took most of the money.
King being accused of owing a fighter money is typical practice for him. Everyone from Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield have accused King of stealing/underpaying them. Many eventually reached monetary settlements with the corrupt promoter.
Let’s just hope that King’s interference won’t stop the fight from being put on as scheduled. Mosley is optimistic about the matter, telling TMZ that he thinks King is using fraudulent signatures. Also recall that King pulled the exact same stunt five years ago when Mayorga tried to fight on an MMA card.
