Mayorga Falls to Spinks

He clowned, he rabbit punched, he hit after the bell, he hit while holding and it cost Ricardo Mayorga on Saturday night.

Not one, but perhaps two huge fights.

Not one, but three belts.

With referee Tony Orlando subtracting two critical points from Mayorga, the Nicaraguan fighter lost a majority decision to Cory Spinks in front of 12,346 in one of eight title fights held at Boardwalk Hall.

Mayorga had already signed to fight Shane Mosley on March 13, contingent on Mayorga winning Saturday night.

Instead Spinks (32-2, 11 knockouts), the International Boxing Federation welterweight champion, added the World Boxing Assn. and World Boxing Council titles held by Mayorga (25-4-1, 22).

Judges John Keane (117-110) and Eugene Grant (114-112) gave the decision to Spinks. Judge Arthur Ellenson scored it a draw, 114-114. The Times gave the decision to Spinks, 114-112.

Orlando took a point away from Mayorga after the fifth round for hitting after the bell and in the 11th for hitting and holding.

“I want Shane Mosley,” said Spinks, whose father Leon and uncle Michael, both former heavyweight champs, watched from ringside. “Everybody has been talking big about Mosley and overlooking me.”

Said Mayorga: “If it wasn’t for the referee, I would have won the fight.... I wasn’t intentionally hitting him wrong. He was just bending his head when I was throwing punches.”

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IBF and WBC middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins (43-2-1, 31) had visions of multimillion-dollar paydays after beating Felix Trinidad two years ago.

Instead, he proved so impossible in negotiations that he was reduced to fighting for only $325,000 in Saturday’s main event against WBA champion William Joppy (34-3-1, 25).

And even though he won easily by unanimous decision, Hopkins lost another $50,000 from his purse when he lost a bet with Joppy that he could knock out Joppy.

“He gave it his best,” Hopkins said “and he earned that $50,000, but trust me, I was trying to get him. Joppy is done. He probably won’t fight again.

“I want to fight [Oscar] De La Hoya. I want Mosley. We’ve got to put pressure on those guys. I’ll come down to 156, 157 if I have to [De La Hoya and Mosley are 154 pounders].”

“The money doesn’t mean anything,” Joppy said. “This fight wasn’t about the bet.”

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Earlier, John Ruiz (39-6-1, 27) won a unanimous decision over Hasim Rahman (35-5-1, 29) for the WBA interim heavyweight title.

What kind of title is that? It’s the kind that sanctioning bodies dream up when the champion -- in this case, Roy Jones -- shows no inclination to defend his crown. Now Jones must fight Ruiz, or Ruiz will be declared the WBA champion.

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It has been a slow and cautious journey back for Zab Judah (30-1, 22) from his TKO loss to Kostya Tszyu two years ago.

Because of a suspension after the fight and a subsequent broken left hand, Judah has fought only twice, winning both times by decision, neither time against an elite fighter.

His opponent Saturday night, Jaime Rangel (29-5, 25), probably won’t be considered among the elite anytime soon either, but Judah still took a big step back with an impressive showing.

Impressive at least for one minute 12 seconds. That’s how long it took Judah to defend his World Boxing Organization junior-welterweight title by putting Rangel away with a solid left hand.

“I didn’t see the punch,” said Rangel, whose head bounced on the canvas before he came to rest under the ropes.

Said Judah: “The most important thing is a rematch with Kostya Tszyu.”

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Twenty-two victories, no defeats and it ends on a sucker punch.

Alejandro Garcia, who had knocked out 21 of his previous opponents, was himself knocked out at 1:41 of the fifth round of his WBA super-welterweight title defense by Travis Simms.

As the two fighters broke from each other, Garcia relaxed for an instant. That’s all Simms needed to knock Garcia out with a sharp, quick left.

“He hit me on the break,” Garcia said. “It was not a fair punch.”

Simms, also 22-0 coming in, scored his 18th knockout.

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The first of the three non-televised fights matched light flyweights Victor Burgos (35-13-3, 20), the IBF champion, and Rosendo Alvarez (32-2-2, 20), the WBA titleholder in a bout designed to unify those titles.

Instead, each man left the ring title in hand after they fought to a draw. Judge Al Bennett gave the fight to Burgos, 116-113, judge Phillippe Verbeke to Alvarez, 116-112, with the third judge, Al Devito, ruling it a draw, 114-114.

The second fight was much easier to judge.

It took only 1:27 of the first round for WBC cruiserweight champion Wayne Braithwaite (20-0, 17) to stop challenger Luis Pineda (21-2, 14). Braithwaite put Pineda down with an overhand right. The Panamanian fighter got to his feet, but referee Ed Cotton deemed Pineda unfit to continue.

Finally, IBF junior bantamweight champion Luis Perez (22-1, 14) won a unanimous decision over challenger Felix Machado (23-5, 12).

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Title Fest

The championship fights Saturday at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, N.J. All bouts scheduled for 12 rounds:

HEAVYWEIGHTS

John Ruiz vs. Hasim Rahman

* Ruiz by unanimous decision. Will be awarded the WBA belt if Roy Jones Jr. refuses to defend title

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

Bernard Hopkins vs. William Joppy

* Hopkins by unanimous decision for undisputed title.

SUPER-WELTERWEIGHTS

Alejandro Garcia vs. Travis Simms

* Simms knocks out Garcia at 1:41 of the fifth round and wins Garcia’s WBA title

WELTERWEIGHTS

Ricardo Mayorga vs. Cory Spinks

* Spinks upsets Mayorga and wins majority decision for the undisputed title

JUNIOR-WELTERWEIGHTS

Zab Judah vs. Jaime Rangel

* Judah scores a knockout at 1:12 of the first round to retain his WBO title