18 years ago today: Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis vs. Ricardo "El Matador" Antonio Mayorga Pérez II

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This was a 'rematch' for the WBA's world welterweight title, a Mulligan of Lewis' second defense. The pair had met eight months earlier on the undercard of Roy Jones vs. Julio César González & Érik Isaac Morales Elvira vs. In Jin Chi on HBO PPV - with an unsatisfying No Contest after Lewis was damaged by a headbutt early in the second, in a fight whose tenor in the opening frame had established that Mayorga already seemed to have the champ's number:

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The still-incumbent titlist, a cagey and hard-hitting Guyanese-Brooklynite southpaw, was technically still undefeated as of their do-over - whereas the challenger had lost thrice in the nineties before starting to build up momentum (and collect WBA regional baubles) around the decade's/century's/millennium's turn. "Six Heads" (a moniker which always used to bother me, as it seemed a missed opportunity to use the much cooler "Hydra" of Lerna from Greek mythology, which bears that anatomical distinction in the oldest documented fibulae attestations; in reality it wasn't even based on the fictional lake snake, but, as reported in TVKO's broadcast of Lewis vs. Mayorga I, upon an early opponent getting trounced and quitting due to feeling dizzy and seeing half a dozen Andrews looming over him in the ring. Which is bad ass if you get the full story, but without context I maintain that it sounds like a goddamn Whack-A-Mole score, and that "Hydra" would be a far simpler, more terror-inducing and elegant choice ) was confident he could easily repel the Nicaraguan jester - whose comically disrespectful and crude persona recalled that of Tony Galento several decades prior.

He thought so - mistakenly - in large part likely due to a false narrative that actually persists until present day. Namely, the "Mayorga is a wild brawler who can't box" narrative, which has always been a bit of reductive and downright inaccurate poppycock IMO. Hell, the Matador wasn't even the most chaotic or (conventionally) unskilled world champion of his era - that was Carlos Maussa, by far - let alone of all time. Seriously, contrast and compare the Colombian with the Nicaraguan and tell me the latter wouldn't box his ears off if they were in the same division.

Mayorga, remember, defeated Vernon "The Viper" Forrest twice - via brute physicality the first time, yes...but not in their rematch. He rarely ever just flew at his opponents winging artless looped punches; he in fact virtually always worked behind a jab, from a tight guard, with footwork that was generally economical and intentional. The guy could flat-out box, and this oft-repeated lie that he couldn't irks me because, like the concept of the "phantom anchor punch" in Ali vs. Liston II, group-think has completely supplanted common sense and individuals making use of their own eyes and basic analytic thinking. Liberty Valance, and what-not. I just sometimes can't believe, and find myself consistently saddened by, how dumb people are.

Case in point: this dissection - and ultimately deflowering & dethroning - of the pride of Georgetown (and the first in his country to become a world boxing champion). Mayorga stalked, controlled distance, used feints, and rationed out his offense to disrupt Lewis' rhythm - and didn't go haywire immediately upon stunning him. The challenger instead waited, drawing 6 Heads into exchanges on his own terms, eating some of the lefty's hardest shots but also making him miss & waste his energy, further sapping it with some grappling, and biding his time until he saw cracks in the armor - which he opened with alternately laser-straight and high-slapping (but equally destructive) right hands. Just a really good performance. Maybe his second best overall behind Forrest II.

As for Lewis, this would signal his end at these heights. A vicious thrashing at the (perhaps hardened-plaster laden ) hands of Antonio Margarito eleven months later would him ushered off the world stage. The rest of his career would be spent enmeshed in domestic feuds against "Deadly" Dennis Dalton (splitting a trilogy 1-1-1) and Howard Eastman for Guyana's national titles at 154 and 160lbs. He was retired by 2008, at which point Mayorga was still headlining big cards (getting stopped with literally seconds remaining on the clock in a very close fight with Shane Mosley in their first encounter), and still three years away from the last of his relevance being exhausted with the Cotto loss. He actually fought until last year, but the whole sputtering off-and-on campaign after Cotto was a hard to watch fade-away that perhaps in hindsight was less dignified than Lewis' relative burn-out.

 

That finish is brutal. Everything after that first left hook was gravy; you could tell Lewis' knees were already jelly. Mayorga still approached with caution, throwing an exploratory 1-2 and then quickly realizing it was time. Left hook, right hand, left hook, right hand - all THUDDING shots. Six Heads was probably seeing twelve of Ricardo.

 

Eye On The Ring fan scorecard aggregate:

Chris M95
Lewis 10-9
Mayorga 10-9, 19-19
Mayorga 10-9, Mayorga 29-28
Lewis 10-9, 38-38

Jarod Killian
Mayorga 10-9
Lewis 10-9, 19-19
Lewis 10-9, Lewis 29-28
Mayorga 10-9, 38-38

Boxing Knowledge
Mayorga 10-9
Lewis 10-9, 19-19
Lewis 10-9, Lewis 29-28
Mayorga 10-9, 38-38

Rorschach (...our very own @rorschach51?)
Mayorga 10-9
Lewis 10-9, 19-19
Mayorga 10-9, Mayorga 29-28
Mayorga 10-9, Mayorga 39-37

https://www.eyeonthering.com/boxing/andrew-lewis-vs-ricardo-mayorga-ii

@IntentionalButt
Mayorga 10-9
even 10-10, Mayorga 20-19
Mayorga 10-9, Mayorga 30-28
Mayorga 10-9, Mayorga 40-37

Literally no single round is scored the same by everyone. The official judges on the night had it a 'majority decision' for Mayorga through four - with two deadlocked at 38 apiece, while judge Pineda had it 39-38 Mayorga (indicating that, like me, he also scored an even round).

 

Of course Fat Dan had it 39-37 for Six Heads.

 

One can easily contend - as, in fact, I do - that Six Heads Lewis never won a round against El Matador in the five completed of the seven they spent in the ring together. He did get in some decent work in rounds two & three of the rematch, and was all told a good fighter - and has to be credited for doing what he needed to do versus what they put in front of him to pick up a title, regardless of whether James Page was poppin' fresh by then - but that's as far as it goes. I wouldn't even say 'very good' - which is the minimum level you needed to be in order to beat a prime (or even through about 2008) version of RAMP.

 

...eww, and of course Don King has to come along to hog the screen and cheapen any enjoyment one might glean from this display by grotesquely bragging about Lewis (by whom King felt betrayed when he defeated Page and quit his services, after being elevated from poverty & obscurity by the walking "Only in America!" soundbyte factory) getting KTFO.

 

Yep, can definitely see that - and that is the one he came nearest winning on my card. The fact that he got so badly hurt in the final moments is what nudged it over the line to become an even 10-10 on my card, but I couldn't swing it all the way Mayorga's way (although "Chris M95" did, on EyeOfTheRing).

 

I tried finding the judges' array of which rounds they scored for Lewis and Mayorga respectively, on the WBA's comprehensive official scorecard database (a pretty cool resource tbh) - unfortunately it doesn't extend back that far.

Curious to see which round, besides the obvious second, judges Grasso and Carter both gave to Lewis. Probably 3rd?