Doggin' it

Ricardo Mayorga is scared. Or stupid. Or both.

Last Wednesday, El Matador pulled out of his scheduled Feb. 14 bout against junior middleweight Alfredo Angulo. It was first reported Mayorga sustained an undisclosed injury in training camp, yet ESPN's Dan Rafael later revealed the Nicaraguan brawler demanded more money through his promoter, Don King.

It wouldn't be the first time Mayorga resorted to his antics. Three days before being mauled by Oscar De La Hoya, he sought a 300-percent raise to fight the Golden Boy.

Yes, he's nuts. But now he's being a detriment to the sport.

Angulo (14-0, 11 KOs) deserved the high-profile fight and his opponent's respect to go through with it. He shouldn't have to settle for Danny Perez, who also decided Saturday wasn't a good night to fight. And he shouldn't have to settle for Cosme Rivera (31-11-2, 22 KOs), who has stepped in (for now) on four-days' notice.

Mayorga's recent stunt cost Angulo the main-event status, but hopefully El Perro will still pocket a pretty penny.

It's reminiscent of September, when Joan Guzman left Nate Campbell jilted at the arena. Guzman fought at 130 in his bout prior to his scheduled match with Campbell, but he hit the scale 3 1/2 pounds over the weight limit and canceled the day of the fight. The lack of payday cost Campbell valuable training time, and three weeks later he declared bankruptcy.

And all Guzman got was a slap on the wrist.

Coincidentally, Campbell (32-5-1, 25 KOs) has slid into the headliner on Saturday's HBO Boxing After Dark, facing Ali Funeka (30-1-2, 25 KOs).

Eric Raskin, currently one of the most entertaining boxing writers, wrote a blog about the "pullout artist" -- a fighter like Mayorga or Guzman who reneges on his contract to fight. Raskin wrote:

If fighters like Mayorga and Guzman want to disappear when it’s time to fight, that’s their prerogative. But the networks who cut the serious paychecks should do their part to make sure these fighters don’t reappear.

I couldn't agree more. It's a disgusting act, especially considering the exceptional first several weeks of boxing this year. All it takes is this kind of behavior for some bonehead to start a message board thread about how the sport is lacking in every category.

Really?

One Mayorga doesn't equate to Major League Baseball's 104 recent steroid poppers, including the biggest star, Alex Rodriguez. Is Guzman's no-show anything close to Michael Vick's pit-bull fighting? Boxing is a violent sport, but do we have Todd Bertuzzis running around trying to decapitate others with hockey sticks?

Hopefully heavy penalties will be imposed on future violators for breach of contract. Guys like Angulo and Campbell, who remain professional no matter the cost, deserve to be held in higher regard than these cowards.

The Sweet Science deserves it, too.