Last weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, pay-per-view king Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Victor Ortiz, delivering a brutal 4th round knock-out to record his 42nd consecutive victory as a professional boxer. The way the fight ended can only be described as controversial. The controversy began towards the end of the 4th round following a head-butt from ‘Vicious’ Victor whilst he had ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd against the ropes. What followed next, nobody was expecting. After seemingly making up and touching gloves, Mayweather Jr. hit an unsuspecting Ortiz with a left hook and straight right, sending him crashing to the canvas. Referee Joel Cortez proceeded to make the 10 count and the bout was over.
To me, from very early on, it was evident that Victor was headed for a lopsided defeat, or indeed if Floyd Mayweather wanted, a knock-out at some stage of the fight. The unusually subdued Ortiz, who had before this fight has knocked down all 33 of the opponents he had shared the ring with, launched himself like a missile using his head to cut the mouth of Mayweather Jr in the 4th. This was a result of pure frustration as the now former WBC Welterweight Champion could not land any significant punches on undefeated fighters’ chin. ‘Money May’ showcased his impeccable defensive skills, using slick head movement and his arms to parry away anything that his 24 year-old offered offensively.
The head-butt from was disgraceful and completely uncalled for, and was rightly punished; however Ortiz did apologise by hugging and kissing Floyd. Whilst I believe they were genuine moves to show he was sorry, it almost looked like he realised he may just have made his opponent very angry. Now, Floyd Mayweather is not only an image conscious individual, but he is one of the smartest boxers in the game and boy would he make the Garden City native pay. After touching gloves and hugging (again), the look in the 34 year-old’s eyes changed as he tagged Ortiz with a short left that snapped the head back before doing what all good predators do and finished off his prey with a powerful straight right.
Photo Credit mannypaquiaovs.com
The replays show that Ortiz didn’t have his guard up when hit twice by Mayweather Jr. That is when the confusion began. Did the referee give the fighters the all clear to continue or did Floyd hit Ortiz with a couple of dirty shots? I don’t know what Ortiz was thinking, but it seemed like he had given up at this stage. After the fight, ‘Vicious’ Victor was smiling and his team were not exactly protesting the decision. Yet, rather than give Floyd some well deserved credit, everybody seems to have called foul. Ortiz has demanded a rematch, Golden Boy have criticised The Money Team and the referee, Amir Khan has said Mayweather should have been disqualified, the list goes on.
Referee Joel Cortez has also come under a lot of fire for his handling of the bout. The replays show that when Ortiz gets hit the first and the second time, Cortez is looking at the timekeeper. The experienced ringmaster has since come out and said that he gave both fighters instructions to fight on. “I told them the fight was back on and I put my hands down in the middle and said come on lets go,” Cortez said in a recent interview. “Then I looked at the timekeeper and being the captain of the ship, I made sure that my timekeeper had his clock running. I was surprised he [Ortiz] would put his hands out again to say I’m sorry.”
There you have it. Floyd Mayweather Jr. did nothing wrong, apart from show his ruthlessness. The issue of morality that is being bandied about is neither here nor there. Boxing is a sport in which two men are pitted against each other with the aim of trying to inflict the most pain and damage to each other. It is survival of the fittest. Victor Ortiz had just savagely head-butted Floyd, which is illegal, yet it has never become a point of discussion. I have no doubt in my mind that if Manny Pacquaio finished of one of his opponents in such a way, he would have been praised for his quick thinking and his cold-bloodedness. In my opinion Floyd Mayweather is simply the boxer that everybody loves to hate. One thing is for sure though, Victor Ortiz will have learnt a harsh lesson from the biggest fight of his career and that is protect yourself at all times…….and don’t piss off the smartest boxer of the generation!
You made a good point about how Floyd’s look changed…I never seen him look so angry in a fight…even if the fight had continued he would have punished Ortiz and made him quit.
“Mayweather Jr. hit an unsuspecting Ortiz with a right hook and straight left” Think you were watching it in a mirror, brother, it was a left hook and a straight right.
Dude above, easy mistype. Good article bro. Not enough pro Floyd writers knocking about as you rightly say, they love to hate!
First watching the fight in which I tuhhgot Mayweather was up 2 rounds to 1 (ppl at HBO had it 2 to 1 also) when Ortiz got him with two clean shots and got him cornered up then came a flurry of punches he was doing good maybe could’ve even stole the round for because there were about 22 seconds left in the round and then came the headbutt which could’ve been of frustration because i’ve never seen him do someting like that in any of his previous 5 fights BUT it still doesnt make it right so he rightfully gets point taken away. Ofcourse retaliation from Mayweather was expected and he took his 1st chance at it with a left (which made things even) and the the CHEAP shot which although is legal according to ref i dont know how credible HE is being that he wasn’t watching the fighters which they’re supposed to do At All Times i mean for all he knows Mayweather could’ve hit him right back with a headbutt and he wouldnt have seen it but back to Mayweather because he hasnt fought in a long time and this is how he wants to win??? really??? for those of us who paid that PPV $$$ do you say to yourself wow this worth every penny and i’d buy another one of his fights? and i put it on him because he’s the prize fighter the one with experience (which in the ref’s case experience didnt help much) and already a multi-millionaire so why not give us a show and ENTERTAIN us BOXING which is what ppl in this recession paid to see him do. I was dissapointed at the decision he made to take easy route and take that cheap shot KO .. ps: also seems like he stepped on Ortiz foot so he wouldnt move right b4 he landed that 1st left hook SHAMEFUL and DIRTY PLAIN and SIMPLE
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