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New York, N.Y. March 11, 2010 – It’s the biggest fight of his Hall Of Fame career and world welterweight champion Sugar Shane Mosley has called on conditioning guru Gustavo Satragni to come to his Big Bear Lake, California, training camp to sharpen him up for a May bout against unbeaten superstar Floyd Mayweather.
Satragni, who comes from Argentina, brings a unique perspective and experience in both boxing and MMA training as he works alongside Mosley’s boxing coach, the highly respected Nazim Richardson.
“It is going to be a great fight matching the skills of not one but two Hall Of Fame fighters,” Satragni said. “We know that Shane must be razor sharp to deal with the speed and skills of Mayweather.”
Satragni, formerly a fixture in the camp of “Cinderella” champion Carlos Baldomir, was asked his professional opinion as to the MMA fight chances of colorful boxing champion Ricardo Mayorga.
Mayorga makes the switch from the boxing ring to the MMA cage against formidable opponent , UFC veteran Din Thomas, who has a 25-8 record and comes off three successive victories on May 15 in Fayetteville, NC, in the main event on rising MMA power Shine Fights (www.shinefights.com), WORLD’S COLLIDE: MAYORGA VS THOMAS which is taking place at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC, and will be beamed on PPV on cable and satellite in the United States and Canada. The event will be in High Definition and it will be available in both English and Spanish (where available). The MMA showdown will be distributed live on Pay Per View beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT by MultiVision Media, Inc. on Saturday, May 15 at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT. There is a 30 minute countdown show prior to the live event at 8:30 PM ET/5:30 PM PT. The suggested retail price for the MMA showdown is $29.95.
Tickets may be obtained by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-736-1420, or online at www.ticketmaster.com, or in person at the Crown Coliseum Box Office. For box office hours and more info, please call (910) 438-4100.
Mayorga is not just dipping his toes into MMA waters, he is diving in headfirst against Thomas.
Does Mayorga, age 36, have a chance to win?
Satragni thinks so if he is fully prepared for what Thomas will bring on attack.
“I know what I would do if I was handling Mayorga,” Los Angeles resident Satragni said. “I would have him absolutely no lifting weights. I would have him working on speed and explosion.
“He will find that MMA is a very different sport than boxing but he can adapt himself with proper training. His strengths should be, obviously, his hand speed and his other reflexes.
“I don’t say that Mayorga has no chance and I know Thomas. I say that Mayorga has a big chance because Mayorga can fight. It’s very simple because Mayorga has to get to Thomas before Thomas can do what he wants to do. You can be sure Thomas has never, ever been hit with the kind of punches he will see coming at him from Mayorga.
“When a boxer comes into MMA, people always want to say the same thing, that the boxer must knock the MMA fighter out before the MMA fighter can get the boxer on the ground. Well, that is pretty much accurate but I would have Mayorga working on drills to increase the speed and power of his hands.
“I think Mayorga will go into this fight extremely confident. We know how Thomas will fight but does Thomas know what Mayorga can do? Watching tapes of Mayorga fights won’t fully prepare Thomas for what is going to be coming his way. No tape will approximate Mayorga’s hand speed or his concussive, knockout power.
“I will say it again, I personally give Mayorga a big chance. This is a compelling match and I hope to watch it myself. One more thing I would say to people analyzing this matchup is not to forget that some people considered Mayorga a big talking joke in boxing before he began whipping champions like Vernon Forrest and Ferocious Fernando Vargas. Suddenly, he was nobody’s joke.
“Ricardo may brag and boast and act crazy but when it is time to fight, he fights like an animal. He has been what you call an overachiever in boxing so why wouldn’t he do well in MMA?”
Satragni knows whereof he speaks because he is a former MMA fighter himself (eight bouts) with a background in Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai style fighting.
He has also trained various MMA competitors who came from different fighting disciplines.
