Mayorga: No booze during camp!!

May 3, 2006
By Robert Morales
Special to CBS SportsLine.com

Ricardo Mayorga came to Southern California in January 2003 and stunned fans and writers alike with his third-round technical knockout of Vernon Forrest at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula.

Further astonishing those in the arena, Mayorga lit up a victory cigarette in the ring. It was his way of letting everyone know he is some kind of wild and crazy guy.

Mayorga hasn't changed much, as his taunting of Oscar De La Hoya and insults of his wife, Millie, attest. But Mayorga has lowered his intake of cigarettes -- and beer, for that matter. He knows that kind of dedication is the only way he is going to fully realize his potential as a prize fighter.

The new and supposedly improved Mayorga will be on display Saturday when he defends his World Boxing Council super welterweight belt against De La Hoya at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"Right now I am smoking about three to four cigarettes per day as opposed to two or three packs when I'm not training," Mayorga said last week. "And no beer in this camp so far."

But his improved allegiance is more than just cutting down on the smokes and brews.

"There are several factors involved," said Mayorga, 32, of Nicaragua. "I've been running five, six miles every day since the first day of camp. I've also done 2½ hours of gym work (per day), which, you know, before I hadn't done that.

"I've pretty much committed myself to this camp. I've been away from my family all this time. Before I would come in a lot later, with fewer weeks leading up to the fight and at the same time, sex, you know, I've pretty much abstained from that and haven't even been near that since I've been here."

Considering he trained in Miami for 2½ months, what Mayorga claims to be doing is no easy task. But will it all be enough to defeat De La Hoya? Sure, De La Hoya is fighting for the first time in 20 months, but Mayorga hasn't exactly been a ball of fire of late.

Since back-to-back victories over Forrest, Mayorga has gone 2-2. He lost a majority decision to Cory Spinks in a welterweight title unification fight in December 2003, but then he won a 10-round decision over journeyman Eric Mitchell in April 2004.

Mayorga then was stopped in the eighth round by Felix Trinidad Jr. in Trinidad's first fight in 29 months. Somehow, that loss earned Mayorga a shot at Michele Piccirillo's WBC super welterweight belt, and Mayorga took it with a unanimous decision in August 2005.

But Don King, Mayorga's promoter, insists that Mayorga is ripe to become boxing's next superstar. Not that King is prone to hyperbole.

"You know, when you get a jewel like this here, you have to be able to, you know, bring his brilliance out," King said. "He's a diamond in the rough, and I'm a diamond polisher