One KO Wonders: Carlos Maussa

[BoztheMadman]

Carlos Maussa is another unique example in boxing history, as he managed to score a ko over a top fighter and a champion, Vivian Harris, but failed in all his others major fights. This great upset happened in 2005 and Maussa became the WBA light welter champion, only to lose the title to Ricky Hatton five months later. His career wouldn’t last long after that. At 5’10 or 179 cm tall and with a 73” or 185 cm reach, he posed a challenge physically to an average light welterweight and was known for his unorthodox style of throwing wide and swinging punches. He also possessed significant power. 
 

Charles Celindo Maussa Diaz was born on 24 September 1971 in Monteria, Northern Colombia, in its Santa Fe neighborhood. He is one of few notable Colombian boxers not of African heritage. He started boxing as amateur and became the Colombian champion four times and once Central American champion, winning 121 of 130 fights. He gained the nickname “El Apostol (The Apostle)” because he frequently preached the gospel. He turned professional at the ripe age of almost 29, having his first fight on 31 July 2000, winning by KO4. He scored 14 straight knockouts, like most Colombians showing he could punch, before going the distance against Hicklet Lau, a gatekeeper, winning by UD12 in Miami and thus becoming the WBC Latino champion, 29 May 2003. He defended the title once by stopping the 17-0 Jeffrey Resto, then considered promising, by TKO6. 

This victory earned him a fight for the WBO title against Miguel Cotto, on 6 December ‘03, in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Both guys had a record of 17-0, but Cotto was shorter at 5’8, however he proved to be too much for Maussa, dropping him in the third round and giving him a beating before Maussa’s corner stopped it after eight rounds. After this debacle, Maussa went to Japan to fight Masakazu Satake on 6 March next year and despite getting knocked down once, managed to win at hostile territory by SD10. On 17 December, he tried to win the WBO Latino title against Arturo Morua, but lost by UD. In 2005, after beating the debutante Antonio Espitia, he surprisingly got an offer to fight the WBA champion Vivian Harris and the fight happened 25 June at Boardwalk Hall, AC. Nobody gave Maussa any chance since Harris had looked impressive and had already made three successful defenses and on top of that-he was even slightly taller at 5’11! Despite all that, Maussa’s characteristic wide swinging style seemed to offset the champion’s game and, after a shaky start where Harris had the edge, he started to assert himself. After 6 rounds, slightly ahead on the scorecards, Maussa pulled off the impossible upset by catching Harris flush with a left hook to the chin and knocking him out! 
 

Maussa almost got himself disqualified by lunging forward as Harris was going down and hitting him right after he had hit the canvas. He stated he wasn’t sure if Harris would stay down, so he wanted to discourage him from getting up. The result was however judged to be a legal ko, as Harris got knocked out from the left hook and was already out by the time of the controversial punch. Harris was not past his prime either, for he went on to score a few more important wins after this fight, adding weight to Maussa’s victory.  He then signed to fight the newly-crowned IBF champion Ricky Hatton in a unification match that took place in Sheffield, England, 26 November. It was a rough fight as Hatton was known for his bullying and physical style, being significantly shorter at 5’6 but also faster and in his peak at 27. Maussa fought mostly off the ropes and would tie Hatton down, but after having some success early on, he started to get worn down by Hatton’s incessant pressure and in the ninth round he got hit by a big swinging left hook and knocked out. 
 

This marked the end of Maussa’s prime and indeed the knockout ended his prime, with him also being at the end of it age-wise in that fight. He came back on 25 August 2006, fighting for the WBC Latino title vs Manuel Garnica and lost by UD. His last fight came on 10 November 2007 at Madison Square Garden, when he was knocked out in one round by then up and coming Victor Ortiz. So ended the career of Carlos Maussa, one of the most unlikely champions in boxing history. Because he started his pro career so late, he could never have a long career-indeed, it lasted only 7 years. He retired with 20 wins, scoring impressive 18 ko’s, and losing 5 times. 
 

He was considered amateurish and weird because of his style, but he proved he should not get taken lightly, which is exactly what Harris seemed to do. Because of his long reach and power, he was a potentially dangerous opponent for anybody. Hatton being so short seemed to make it difficult for Maussa to land his trademark punches and his whole style proved wrong for him. Because of that sole big victory, he will always be remembered as a ONE KO WONDER!