Ricardo Mayorga says he didn't pull out of a fight with Alfredo Angulo over money, as was reported by Dan Rafael of ESPN.com and his own promoter, Don King, but rather because he still hasn't recovered from injuries suffered in his September 27 fight with Shane Mosley.
Mayorga says that he's had pain in his ribs since the fight, but thought he could work through it, put in a good training camp, and be ready to fight Angulo on February 14. When Mayorga dropped out on short notice, Gary Shaw replaced him with Danny Perez, who also dropped out. Angulo will now be facing veteran Cosme Rivera.
"Mosley," Mayorga says. "You can blame Mosley, it's all his fault."
The 35-year old Mayorga also noted that he doesn't pull out of fights. But we all know he tried to hold King and Golden Boy up for more money prior to his fight with Oscar de la Hoya, and even though his reasoning here doesn't seem unbelievable or even like a stretch, it's also hard to buy it.