Mayweather Ducks Pacquiao, Stumbles Into Victor Ortiz

A month ago, I reported that the rumors surrounding a match-up between “Vicious” Victor Ortiz and “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather seemed very solid. Despite Mayweather’s own heated denials that he was even negotiating with Ortiz, it was Mayweather himself who Tweeted that the bout with Ortiz is on, and the rumors proved true in most respects: the fight is set for September 17th, the Mexican Independence Day weekend. Whether or not the bout will be held at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas remains to be seen.

I also commented that in fighting Ortiz, Mayweather was merely making another step in his ongoing dance-of-avoidance with Manny Pacquiao. Nothing has changed on that score either. True, Pacquiao wasn’t theoretically available to fight Mayweather in September, since he is scheduled to meet Juan Manuel Marquez in a rubber match instead. Still, the Marquez fight wouldn’t have been made (negotiated, perhaps, but not signed) if Mayweather had put out feelers for a Pacquiao fight, and Pacquiao vs. Marquez III doesn’t change the simple fact that Mayweather bears almost all of the blame for the failure to put the biggest potential fight in sports together. “Pretty Boy” has an undeniable track record of ducking Pacquiao, so any fight he makes that isn’t with the Filipino tornado must be viewed in that light.

Another part of my commentary was that, were it not for the continuing stench of Mayweather’s ducking out on a Pacquiao fight, Ortiz vs. Mayweather would actually be a very exciting match-up. Even though it pales by comparison to Pacquaio vs. Mayweather, the Ortiz vs. Mayweather fight has some real potential to create fireworks and maybe even to produce an upset. By the time Mayweather gets in the ring with Ortiz, he will have collected a year and a half’s worth of rust. Even for a devoted gym rat like Mayweather, that is far too long to be inactive and still expect a top performance, especially for a man who is so reliant on reflexes and defensive technique. Mayweather is also 34, which is not the time for a boxer to take 17 months off. Mayweather might also lack focus, distracted as he is by his legal battles.

Finally, Mayweather hasn’t fought anyone even half as formidable as Victor Ortiz since he met Jose Luis Castillo back in 2002. Everybody since then has either been way past his best (de la Hoya, Mosley), too slow (Baldomir, Gatti), too small (Marquez), shopworn (Mitchell, Hatton) or psychologically fragile (Judah). Ortiz is 24, a full-sized welterweight, a quick, hard puncher and a fighter with a demonstrable will to win. In beating Andre Berto, Ortiz defeated the only man in the welterweight division who approaches Mayweather for speed and slickness. It is hard to think of Floyd Mayweather as anything other than a favorite in this match-up, but his ring rust must narrow his odds by any calculus.

Still, the only person in boxing who is truly excited to see Mayweather fight anyone other than Manny Pacquiao is Victor Ortiz. Mayweather has been decisively supplanted Pacquiao as the P4P king, his inactivity has reduced his standing in the sport, and the casual sports fan no longer seems to care what Mayweather is doing if it isn’t getting in the ring with the Pacman. Sure, boxing fans will watch Ortiz vs. Pacquiao, but boxing fans alone don’t make the big money that comes with having cross-over appeal. Adding it all up, Ortiz vs. Mayweather shows just how much Mayweather’s ducking of Pacquiao combined with his own absence from the sport have reduced his stature. Pretty Boy isn’t irrelevant yet, not by a long shot, but he eventually will be if he keeps this up.