Not even the conflagration associated with visiting reggae arsonist Capleton could bring warmth to the hearts of Guyanese, who watched in disbelief as Andrew `Sixhead' Lewis was manhandled by a wild swinging Ricardo Mayorga enroute to a fifth round TKO loss at the Sovereign Centre in Reading, Pennsylvania, USA on Saturday night.

Lewis hit the canvas for the first time in his career, midway into round five of his third defence of the World Boxing Association welterweight title and referee Rudy Battoe waved off the contest to avoid the Guyanese further punishment.

The defeat rises many questions about the former champion's modus operandi, preparation for the fight and plans for the future. A six-punch combination, with had three connecting, snatched the victory for Mayorga, who had predicted that the fight would have ended in round three.

"He caught me and I went down but I was ready to continue. The referee just stopped it just like that. I was ready to continue," Lewis claimed after the stoppage. However, from the opening round, Lewis seemed confused by Mayorga's rugged style and it was only in the fourth round that he gave a good account of himself.

Throwing faint jabs, in combinations of three Lewis looked a far cry from the hungry `Albouystown Cyclone' who dismantled James Page in February of last year. Mayorga went on the offence from the opening round with an obvious intent on making it an early night in the fight that lacked the finer qualities of the sport.

Lewis connected with a hard left in the second round but remained unwilling to mix. The Nicaraguan native went after the former champion in the third round and landed for sometime with impunity while `Sixhead' attempted, without success to keep the slugger at bay.

The following round saw Lewis stepping up a gear as he caught Mayorga with a fierce combination but the challenger came back in the latter part of the round with big punches of his own.

A hook, a right and another hook resulted in Lewis tasting the canvas. He rose at the count at six but referee Battle had seen enough and waved off the contest at two minutes and eight seconds of the fifth round.

"I knew I had to come and come and come because he is a left hander but I knew I could knock him out," Mayorga said after the victory. The new champion moved to 24 wins in 28 fights with 22 knockouts.

"To all the Guyanese who have watched this I must say that Andrew Lewis will be back. I have lost tonight but every fighter makes mistakes. Do not give up on me. I will be back. Sugar Ray and Mohammed Ali had losses also," Lewis said.

Touching on whether there was a problem in him making the welterweight limit, Lewis answered in the negative. "I have no problem with making the weight. I just got a little careless in the ring and got touched."

"He got caught. It happens in boxing. Mayorga threw a good combination and it got `Six' manager Nelson Fernandez declared. "I thought that the stoppage was a little premature but I rather lose this battle and not the war," Fernandez added.

"Of course I am disappointed. He worked harder than anybody I have ever seen or anybody I had in my life. He is a great warrior and no one should be ashamed of him. He is coming back and with a vengeance.

Mayorga is strong and proved that. We wanted to take him into deeper waters. We felt that he was getting weak and felt it better to stick with our fight plan. Mayorga is strong but still not in the class of `Six', " Fernandez concluded.

But even as Lewis and company were licking their wounds promoter Don King let loose a stinging verbal attack on the former champion. "Six is a good fighter. I just think that he has been mislead by misguided emotionalism."

"I knew that Mayorga was going to knock him out. All the spirits were against Lewis," King told Stabroek Sport. "He (Lewis) came here with no shoes and I took care of him. Then he turned around and defected. He had no loyalty. He is just a defector," King said.

"James Page ran off from me and he is now in the Atlanta jail. Lewis was with me for all these years then he ran over to Bob Arum. This is what you call disloyalty at the highest forum. But God stepped into the plan. Tonight Mayorga vindicated me. He showed that good would win over evil," King added. When someone helps you do not turn around and stab them in the back."

King has sued Lewis, promoter Bob Arum and Fernandez for breach of contract. "I'm going to put Mayorga against Forrest or anybody else. He has a lot a lot of heart. I want Mosley, Forrest and anyone else."

The bout was witnessed by a handful of Guyanese who included co-founder of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation Kashif Muhammad.