Following the Mayweather-Ortiz results, here are 10 things to note…
Everyone has already heard, seen and read plenty on the Mayweather vs. Ortiz results, how the fight played out, and the aftermath of it all. But there’s still a lot to talk about, and the Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz bout will continue to be in the headlines for the coming weeks. Take a look at these 10 quickfire post-fight Mayweather-Ortiz thoughts.
- Protect yourself at all times: The first rule of boxing is protect yourself at all times. Mayweather capitalized on Ortiz being distracted and unprepared… and that’s perfectly legal. All of the other arguments don’t really hold any merit. It may have been sneaky, but it was also intelligent, opportunistic and legit.
- Let’s not forget the head butt: Team Ortiz doesn’t have much moral high ground to stand on, either. The whole incident was sparked by as blatant of a head butt as you’ll see in the sport of boxing. So to stand on a soap box and cry foul when your guy blatantly fouled Mayweather to get everything going is nonsensical.
- Ortiz isn’t complaining: Team Ortiz, including trainer Danny Garcia, may be up in arms about the stoppage, but Ortiz isn’t. He thought they were broken, but that was his own mistake and he has not complained whatsoever. That said, he would of course love a rematch and another multi-million payday.
- Mayweather’s rant… marketing ploy?: The Mayweather and Larry Merchant argument was priceless theater. Some blame Merchant, and some blame Mayweather, but something about the incident seemed forced. Mayweather loves to play up his villain persona of Money Mayweather, and this fit in perfectly to that end. It will make even more people shell out $70 to watch him fight on pay-per-view the next time.
- Merchant is critical of Mayweather: Merchant has always been critical of Mayweather, and he has admitted as much. He prefers aggressive fighters, he scores fights in a way that favors the aggressor in a bout, and he has never cared much for Mayweather personally, his style or his choice of opposition. This is an announcer that was getting on Mayweather’s case after his wins over Jose Luis Castillo to finally get in there and face the guy he was avoiding… Juan Lazcano. So let’s be real… Merchant has never been a Mayweather backer.
- But even he came around: After the flareup, even Merchant had to put the argument aside and acknowledge that it was a legit victory for Floyd. And even he has to give Mayweather props for a concussive victory over a young, hungry, powerful champion.
- A resounding Mayweather win: I tried to tell everyone that this would be a resounding knockout win for Mayweather. Of course, nobody could have predicted exactly how that played out, but nonetheless, it’s a memorable career highlight and one of his more noteworthy wins. OK… gloating done.
- Mayweather-Ortiz was a good fight: The crazy knockout ending and the drama in the post-fight interviews will keep us talking. But let’s not forget, in four rounds of action it was a damn good scrap. There was exciting two-way action with each man having his moments, and we saw Mayweather opening up far more and being the aggressor more than we have since his days at junior welterweight and below.
- The Mayweather fight plan: The lead straight right hand has always been Mayweather’s “Money” punch, so it was certainly not a surprise when he built his entire fight plan around it. He repeatedly turned to it and found a home for it. He also built his defense into it, almost jumping in with the lead right, and then bending down nearly parallel to the ground as he continued to step forward, placing himself out of harm’s range. Now, he would need something more to take care of Manny Pacquiao, but that could be a taste of what’s to come.
- Mayweather’s Halloween trunks: OK, so can we briefly mention Mayweather’s hideous Halloween-inspired garb? Those were some of the worst trunks I’ve seen in quite some time, and coming about 45 days before October 31 makes them that much sillier.
