He Still Is the King of the Ring

The two small Puerto Rican flags seemed permanently planted in promoter Don King’s hands. His shrill, high-pitched cry, “Viva Puerto Rico! Viva Puerto Rico!” echoed through boxing rings, ballrooms and press rooms.

King never paid much attention to Felix Trinidad when King’s attention was focused on trying to keep Mike Tyson in the ring and out of trouble. But when King temporarily lost his hold of the heavyweight division -- with King, such losses are always temporary -- and Trinidad began to rise in stature, he became the focus of King’s empire.

And Puerto Rico became King’s second home.

But with Trinidad retired, King’s heart is beating for another homeland.

Last Saturday night at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Ricardo Mayorga of Managua, Nicaragua, the World Boxing Assn. welterweight champion, excited the boxing world by hammering 6-1 favorite Vernon Forrest, the World Boxing Council titleholder, to the canvas in the third round of their unification bout. Referee Marty Denkin stopped the match after counting to nine, giving Mayorga both belts.

And total control of the welterweight division to Mayorga’s promoter -- King.

While Mayorga lingered in the ring, puffing on a cigarette and soaking in the adulation of the crowd, King marched around, waving two American flags.

“Don’t you have a Nicaraguan flag?” he was asked.

“I’m going to get me one,” he said, laughing.

King has plenty to laugh about these days. The International Boxing Federation welterweight titleholder, Michele Piccirillo, is his fighter, as is Corey Spinks, who will face Piccirillo in a rematch on March 22. Piccirillo won the first meeting last April.

Forrest is expecting a rematch against Mayorga. There was a rematch clause in his contract, but also an allowance for an interim fight for Mayorga. King plans to make that fight this summer against the winner of Piccirillo-Spinks. If Mayorga wins that fight, Forrest might get his rematch in the fall.

But a victory by Mayorga over Piccirillo or Spinks would make Mayorga the undisputed welterweight champion. With that title in King’s hands, Forrest, who does not have a promoter, won’t have any leverage in the negotiations for a rematch.

It was all so unnecessary.

Forrest entered the ring with a 35-0 record and his reputation at an all-time high after two victories over Shane Mosley in 2002. But Forrest showed that, although he was good enough to beat Mosley, he wasn’t smart enough to beat Mayorga.

Mayorga is the boxing equivalent of a home-run hitter, a swing-from-the-heels-on-every-pitch slugger who, if he doesn’t hit the ball out of the park, probably will strike out. Forrest is a skilled boxer, the equivalent of a multidimensional pitcher who throws an assortment of pitches.

In this case, Forrest decided to trade punches with the more powerful Mayorga, the equivalent of challenging him down the middle with fastballs.

At that point, the result was predictable.

So is King’s next cry, “Viva Nicaragua”?

Power Will Be Ringside

Tonight’s card at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center may not be headline news in most sports sections in this country, but it’s a front-page story in El Salvador, so big that nation’s president is in Las Vegas to watch it.

That’s amazing, considering that the fight isn’t the main event and that the fighter President Francisco Flores came to see and honor, Carlos Hernandez, isn’t a Salvadoran.

Hernandez (37-4-1, 23 knockouts), who will be fighting David Santos (42-5, 27) for the vacant IBF super-featherweight championship, was born in Los Angeles and lives in Bellflower.

But as a Salvadoran American, he has helped raise about $300,000 to help rebuild 122 homes destroyed by a 2001 earthquake that killed about 1,000 in El Salvador.

The main event is for another vacant title, the IBF featherweight championship. Battling for it will be Manuel Medina (60-12, 27) and Juan Manuel Marquez (39-2-1, 31).

Also on the card will be super-lightweights Miguel Cotto (13-0, 10) and Cesar Bazan (39-5-1, 27) in a 12-round match, and Dimitriy Salita (10-0, 7) and Richie Ueding (6-6, 3) in a six-rounder.