Newz Forum: BOXING: New Jersey Regulators Uphold Spinks Victory

Associated Press - March 23, 2004
ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (AP) - New Jersey boxing regulators on Tuesday rejected the claim by welterweight Ricardo Mayorga that mistakes by a referee cost him his title.

Mayorga, who lost the WBA and WBC belts to Cory Spinks in a Dec. 13 majority decision, complained to the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that referee Tony Orlando mistakenly ruled Spinks (32-2) slipped on at least two occasions.

Mayorga's camp contended the falls in the eighth and 12th rounds should have been knockdowns.

If Orlando ruled they were, it might have given Mayorga (25-1-4) enough points to win the fight, Mayorga's representatives argued in a hearing Friday.

They also complained that Mayorga, who doesn't speak English, didn't understand instructions given by Orlando in the ring.

The two-member panel rejected those assertions Tuesday, saying Mayorga understood the ``universal language of boxing'' enough to know by Orlando's gestures what he meant.

``Further, Mr. Mayorga's wealth of amateur and professional boxing experience would seem to hold that Mr. Mayorga would be very familiar that hitting after the bell, hitting while holding, hitting behind the head and hitting on the break are illegal fouls in any boxing jurisdiction,'' board members Steven Katz and Dennis McDonough said in Tuesday's decision.

They said videotaped reviews of the pay-per-view telecast showed Spinks' slips weren't legitimate knockdowns.

Mayorga's lawyer, Antonio S. Gonzalez, did not return a telephone call seeking comment on the ruling.

Sounds like sour grapes by Mayorga to me,he lost fair and square.He should do his talking in the ring instead of crying like a baby.