For the first time since he was knocked out in the 12th round by Shane Mosley in 2008, boxer Ricardo Mayorga will step back into the ring Friday. In a card set by Don King, Mayorga will take on Michael Walker at American Airlines Arena in Miami.

At this point in his career the 37-year-old Mayorga, who is a national hero in his native Nicaragua, is perhaps better known for his regular cigarette habit - while training - than his rapidly deteriorating boxing skills.

But thanks to a recent Wikileaks release of U.S. intelligence documents, we now know Mayorga’s reputation to the U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua was quite different than that of a boxer best known for his unorthodox training habits.

In a series of cables released one week ago titled, “NICARAGUA’S MOST WANTED PART I: THE CRIMES OF (DICTATOR) DANIEL ORTEGA AND HIS FAMILY,” Mayorga is mentioned in an unspeakable context. Read more…

Big-time boxing returned to Los Angeles on Saturday night, as a local hero and one of the most popular boxers of his generation in Shane Mosley took on the colorful Ricardo Mayorga. And Los Angeles boxing fans responded by staying at home in droves, with only 5,798 showing up to the Home Depot Center.

To put that into context, that’s about three times less than the crowd who showed up to the Chivas USA soccer game at the big stadium that night. Those who did show up had some excitement in the final round, as Mosley knocked Mayorga down late and then finally out with one second left in the fight. (You can see video of the final round after the jump:)

Read more…

• Leave it to the Beavers: Once again, Oregon State shocks highly-ranked USC in Corvallis.

This is becoming quite a trend.

• But such a monumental upset is no comfort to OSU alum Steven Jackson, as the Rams RB is too busy lashing out at coach Scott Linehan.

• Pat Summitt may be basketball’s all-time winningest coach, but the Lady Vols leader is no match when it comes to rasslin’ with raccoons.

• How melancholy is the Mariners’ clubhouse? One teammate of Ichiro openly talked about wanting to knock the Seattle star slugger out.

• Despite the Colts’ 1-2 record, Tony Dungy must still be pretty popular in Indianapolis - why else would someone return a credit card the coach left at a gas station?

Read more…