Career
Maussa was raised in the Santa Fe neighborhood of Montería, a city located in the banks of the Sinú River, where he began his impressive amateur career, which ultimately brought him just nine defeats in 130 bouts. He gained the nickname “The Apostle” by his frequent preaching of the Christian gospel. In his professional career, while never a superstar fighter, he was a highly touted "gatekeeper" who helped define the careers of several light welterweight prospects.
Maussa began his career with twelve victories in his native Colombia before coming to the United States.
In this battle of two undefeated fighters (17-0 Resto vs 16-0 Maussa), Resto was unable to deal with Maussa"s unorthodox fighting style and abruptly quit in the 6th round, earning Maussa an unexpected victory. Interestingly, both fighters" careers would end half a decade later with a loss to the same fighter, Victor Ortiz.
Maussa"s fight against Cotto was less successful, resulting in Cotto winning by an 8th round TKO. Following this, Maussa fought in three lower-profile fights, winning two. At the beginning of the seventh round Maussa delivered a stunning left hook, KO-ing Harris.
Maussa then lunged downward and punched him in the head while he was already supine on the canvas.
The ropes absorbed the impact of the blow. Still, this act has led to much controversy, as the hit could have disqualified Maussa. After the match, however, the bout referees ruled that the late hit was “insignificant”, allowing Maussa to keep his title.
When interviewed about this punch, Maussa claimed he didn"t connect with Harris on purpose, and that his sole intention was to impress the fallen Harris in case he had any desire to fight on.
The victory cemented Maussa"s reputation as somewhat of a gatekeeper for up-and-coming light welterweight prospects, but would end up being his last career victory. On 26 November 2005 Maussa lost his WBA title against IBF title-holder, Ricky Hatton, in a unification bout.
After a unanimous decision loss to Manuel Guarnica, Maussa fought well-regarded future titleholder Victor Ortiz, and was knocked out in the first round. Following this, Maussa retired with a professional record of 20 wins and 5 losses in a total of 113 professional rounds of boxing.
