De La Hoya chose Mayorga as his comeback opponent partly because of the chain-smoking, beer-swilling Nicaraguan’s reputation for reckless behavior in and out of the ring. During their pre-fight publicity tour, El Matador wore bullfighting outfits and repeatedly insulted his opponent, questioning everything from his heritage to his sexuality.

“In the beginning, the way he was talking about my wife and my son, he motivated me to go right at him,” De La Hoya said. “He was going to talk dirty, and that was the motivation I needed to get myself up for this fight.”

The crowd of 13,076 at the MGM Grand Garden clearly favored De La Hoya, chanting his name and booing Mayorga. The fighters didn’t touch gloves beforehand, but the beaten Mayorga was humble.

“You are a great champion,” Mayorga said to De La Hoya. “You are a great fighter. I apologize for everything I said to you.”

“I forgive you,” De La Hoya replied.

De La Hoya hadn’t fought since losing to Hopkins. He remembered being face-down, punching the canvas in pain and embarrassment when the champion’s liver-bruising shot stopped him for the first time in his career — and he couldn’t allow that fight to be his farewell to the sport.

But many wondered whether De La Hoya could ever come back from that shot — or even if he should.

With two losses in his last three fights, he risked a tedious end to a stellar career. Meanwhile, his business ventures were thriving — including Golden Boy Promotions, this match’s co-promoter, which is making progress in its declared quest to shine light through the shady business of boxing.

Mayorga endured his own setbacks while winning just two of his previous four fights after making his name with consecutive victories over Vernon Forrest. Cory Spinks claimed Mayorga’s welterweight belts with a majority decision in December 2003, and Felix Trinidad stopped him in the eighth round in September 2004.

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