The Big Debate: Ricardo Mayorga vs. Michele Piccirillo.

Ricardo Mayorga, as is his habit, has been trashing his opponent through the media this week. It’s been the usual declarations that his opponent is weak, lacks ability and is simply a stepping-stone to a bigger fight. The Nicaraguan’s antics do make for interesting

theater and fun reading but the object of all this attention, Michele Piccirillo, isn’t the least bit impressed by the erstwhile intimidation. Instead, the Italian boxer has suggested that Mayorga save his breath because the boastful slugger will need it. Despite the brevity of that statement, in all likelihood it reveals a great deal about the fight plans of Piccirillo.

Check in for another SaddoBoxing Big Debate as Curtis McCormick and Jim Cawkwell take on the subject of the vacant WBC light middleweight title fight between Ricardo Mayorga and Michele Piccirillo.

It’s no surprise, really, that Piccirillo isn’t planning to stand toe-to-toe with the Central American bomb thrower. After all, it took Felix Trinidad eight rounds of his best shots to put Mayorga away and the Italian clearly doesn’t have that kind of world-class power. For Piccirillo to win this fight he’ll have to make Mayorga miss and make him pay, repeatedly, tiring out the wild man of Managua.

Can Piccirillo do this for twelve rounds and take the vacant WBC light middleweight title? I say he can. The man from Modugno, Italy is a smart fighter that’s handled loads of European and South American veterans, even doing a better job at beating another big puncher, Rafael Pineda, than either Zab Judah or Spinks did. Yes, Piccirillo has never faced anyone who will put on the pressure like Mayorga will, but a good fighter who can keep his composure can expose the crudity of the Central American’s aggression and take advantage of the huge opportunities that such an approach presents.

I’ll take Piccirillo to post a close unanimous decision over Mayorga and turn the floor over to you Jim.

Thanks Curtis. Some good points made there, but I feel that if Piccirillo has a chance of causing a monumental upset, it will have less to do with Piccirillo’s brilliance than Mayorga’s decline. Rarely have we seen a beating the likes of which Mayorga stood up for against Felix Trinidad. However, unless Mayorga truly lost something from himself in that fight, he will impose the same will upon Piccirillo that he did upon some of the best fighters in the world.

Piccirillo certainly owns his fair share of wins over decent fighters, Cory Spinks included, which is more than can be said for Mayorga, but as a fighter himself, he lacks the venom of punch to keep the marauder in check. Not only does Mayorga have the ability to give and take a punch with the best of them, he has one of the most unorthodox fighting styles around. At thirty-five, and having hit the deck in his last fight against an unknown fighter, it must be considered that Piccirillo might not have the stomach to contain the hammer-fisted assaults of Mayorga that rain in from a bevy of angles, unrelenting from the first round to the last.

With the bait of potential superstar showdowns with Fernando Vargas and Oscar de la Hoya in the offing, I cannot see Mayorga allowing the likes of Piccirillo to obstruct him. Look for Mayorga to assert himself in the early rounds and short-circuit Piccirillo’s ambitions by the midway point of the fight.

Contact Curtis McCormick at thomaspointrd@aol.com

Contact Jim Cawkwell at jimcawkwell@yahoo.co.uk