Southpaw’s springboard

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003 | 9:48 a.m.

The man he is scheduled to fight is the subject of a lengthy profile in the current edition of a national magazine, is regarded as a rising star with unlimited moneymaking potential and already has a March date with Shane Mosley.

Yet Cory Spinks gets first crack at Ricardo Mayorga, and everything that Mayorga has achieved to date and hopes to achieve in the future is at risk in a battle between two reigning welterweight world champions.

"He's a tough man and a rugged fighter, and things have worked out well for him," Spinks said of Mayorga. "But he hasn't gotten any better. His head has gotten bigger, that's about all."

Mayorga vs. Spinks is part of the mammoth Don King pay-per-view card Dec. 13 in Atlantic City. Mayorga is the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association champion at 147 pounds, and Spinks is the International Boxing Federation titleholder at the same weight.

Presuming he will defeat Spinks, Mayorga has already agreed to fight Mosley March 13 at a site to be determined in Las Vegas.

Mayorga, who is featured in the current edition of ESPN The Magazine, is a minus 400 betting favorite for his fight with Spinks, who is a plus 300.

Mayorga, 30, is 26-3-1 with 23 knockouts after opening his career with a loss and three losses in his first 11 fights.

Spinks, 25, is 31-2 with 10 KOs and is the son of former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks and the nephew of former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Michael Spinks.

Cory Spinks, a native of St. Louis, and his team have leased a house with a gym in Las Vegas to train for the fight with Mayorga.

"This is the perfect situation to be in," said his trainer and manager, Kevin Cunningham. "As far as the general public is concerned, expectations are pretty low on our end and they're not expecting much from Cory because he hasn't had a major push in the past and a lot of people still don't know who he is.

"We couldn't have planned a better stage for a fight like this. And if Cory wins, we want the exact same plan that they have set up for Mayorga; we definitely will want Mosley."

Spinks realizes he's in something of an enviable spot. Just as Mayorga seemingly sprung to prominence within the past year, Spinks, with a win, could do the same.

"He's never faced anyone like me, a southpaw with skill," Spinks said. "Of course I can't wait for the moment we get in the ring. I feel like it's been a long time coming for me."

Spinks became the IBF champion on his second try, winning a rematch with then-champion Michele Piccirillo March 22 in Campione D'Italia, Italy. Spinks, who had lost by disputed decision to Piccirillo 11 months earlier, won the rematch by 6, 5 and 2 points on the judges' cards.

"People don't really know me because I won my title overseas," he said. "They haven't had a chance to see what I can do.

"I didn't want to go back over there (to Italy), but I had to and I did what I had to do. That should be a plus."

If Spinks comes into this fight unsung, Mayorga is anything but. A knockout win against Andrew Lewis, followed by one against Vernon Forrest and then a decision win against Forrest in a rematch have boosted Mayorga to a lofty height.

Beyond his brawling ways, a good part of Mayorga's appeal is his background, his nonchalance toward training and his questionable lifestyle habits. He also isn't afraid to insult his opponents, as Spinks came to realize during a brief press tour on the East Coast.

"He's just mouthy," Spinks said. "But that doesn't bother me. I see people like that as a dime a dozen, as fools, and I just laugh."

Arrested 11 times as a youth in Nicaragua, Mayorga neither trains hard nor is regarded as a technically sound fighter. He also enjoys beer and cigarettes and has been known to have both readily available in the ring after a fight.

"If he's taking this lightly and not doing what he should be, that's his problem and he'll regret it once we get in the ring," Spinks said. "If he hasn't prepared, I'll show him it was a mistake."

Spinks, a noted counterpuncher, is the "boxer" in this fight and Mayorga the "puncher," making it something of a classic matchup.

"The bigger difference is that Cory is the smarter fighter," said his assistant trainer, Kenny Adams. "Mayorga's not going to know which way to go. We're not stupid or crazy; we're going to box Mayorga and outwork him."

Beyond the fact he delivered when he had to, Adams hasn't been impressed with Mayorga, who is training in Fort Pierce, Fla.

"The guys he beat were stupid and stood right in front of him," he said, referring specifically to Lewis (who lost in five rounds) and the first fight with Forrest (which ended in three).

Another factor worth considering in this fight is that Mayorga has had trouble with southpaws. In fact, despite a 107-5 record as an amateur, each of his losses were to lefties.

"This is Cory's opportunity to become a star by beating the so-called latest superstar," Cunningham said. "It has a chance to be Cory's coming-out party."

His father and uncle took advantage of similar opportunities, as Olympic gold medalist Leon Spinks won the heavyweight title in only his eighth pro fight with a 15-round decision win over Muhammad Ali in 1978, and Michael Spinks did the same in a 1985 fight with Larry Holmes, becoming the first light heavyweight champion to defeat a reigning heavyweight champion.

"And Mayorga is no Ali or Holmes, I can tell you that," Cunningham adds.