Advantage: Floyd Mayweather or Victor Ortiz
Live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 17th, Floyd Mayweather will meet “Vicious” Victor Ortiz in a fight where both men have something to prove.
For Mayweather, Ortiz is an opponent that will force the boxing world to give him the credit that he deserves. For Ortiz, the world would be his oyster if he can pull off the stunning upset on Mayweather, thus, propelling him to becoming the new Golden Boy of boxing.
Each fighter will enter the ring with his own advantages that he can utilize in hopes of winning the fight, but who has the advantage across more attributes, and which attributes will ultimately lead one man to victory?
Boxing Skills
Floyd Mayweather has so much speed and instinctive skill that he does not even have to use the jab to win rounds or set up the rest of his game, but simply can rely on his sheer skill and reflexes alone. Ortiz has an aggressive, punishing style, that may look like great boxing when compared to Marcos Maidana, but offers little in the way of Mayweather’s boxing prowess. There is not one fighter in the welterweight division that can stand and box with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Advantage Mayweather
Power
Ortiz has explosive power that took Andre Berto by storm in his last fight. Ortiz has power in both hands and I feel he can seriously hurt Floyd if he can catch him with one of his powerful hooks, emphasis being on if he can catch him. Mayweather on the other hand has deceptive power. In the early rounds, Floyd loves to throw power shots to the body that can catch up with a fighter in the later rounds. The bottom line is that we all have seen Ortiz knock fighters out cold with his power, while Mayweather continues to choose to potshot his opponents for twelve rounds en route to clear unanimous decision victories. Advantage Ortiz
Speed
This category is really a no brainer. I will go back to my original analysis of Mayweather’s boxing skills. Mayweather is so quick and elusive that he can win rounds by his skills and reflexes alone. This is how Floyd Mayweather makes his living in the ring. Boxing fans always remember this; speed is not what everyone thinks it is. Speed is simply reflexes and distance. If you shorten the distance of your punch you can be quicker than the other guy and Floyd does a great job of shortening his distance. Still, all on its own he maintains great hand speed, even if it isn’t what it used to be. Advantage Mayweather
Size & Strength
When the two fighters for the weigh-in, I expect them both to make weight at 147 pounds, but overnight, I believe that Ortiz will swell up more than Mayweather and come to the fight on September 17 looking like a junior middleweight or even a middleweight, while Floyd will probably swell to 150 pounds at the most, if he even swells up at all. Remember Ortiz is naturally the bigger guy, and he is packed with muscle. Advantage Ortiz
Reach
Floyd will have the reach advantage in this fight and he’ll use it to keep the distance between he and Ortiz to the levels he likes, allowing him to push off with elbows and land shots while retreating and avoiding incoming fire. Even though Mayweather has the greater reach, Ortiz will need to use his jab to set up something big as we all know that Mayweather had some difficulties with Oscar De La Hoya when De La Hoya used his jab on Mayweather back in May of 2007. Advantage Mayweather
Height
Floyd is 5 feet 8 inches tall and Ortiz and 5 feet 9 inches tall. Nuff said. Ortiz will need to use his one inch height advantage on Floyd by standing tall and using the jab to set up the big shots on Floyd if he can catch him. Advantage Ortiz
Trainers
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has been trained by his Uncle Roger Mayweather his entire career. This will be a huge advantage for Mayweather going into the fight given that when the going gets tough, Floyd is super comfortable and relaxed in the corner and trusts his uncle to dictate strategy when necessary. Ortiz and his trainer Danny Garcia have been together for quite some time, although not as long as the Mayweathers, and I am not sure what he will tell Victor when plan A isn’t working. Advantage Mayweather
Age
Ortiz is clearly the younger lion going into the September 17 showdown, but it is like Ortiz mentioned on HBO’s Faceoff with Max Kellerman, “Age doesn’t mean anything, I mean, look at Bernard Hopkins.” Yes, Ortiz is younger and hungrier, but Mayweather is more experienced and I am convinced that Floyd’s experience will pay more dividends than Ortiz’s youth, even though Victor maintains the inherent advantage in this category. Advantage Ortiz
Conclusion
Based on my analysis of the above eight boxing attributes, the two fighters are an even 4 and 4 going into their fight, although I feel that Mayweather can easily adapt to the advantages that Ortiz has over him.
Both fighters have a lot of advantages that they can use to win this fight. Whoever wins this fight will have a huge upside. For Floyd Mayweather to once again come back from a layoff and this time to beat a legitimate young welterweight in Victor Ortiz will be a very impressive feat, but in saying that, I will have to say that anyone who can beat the elusive and great Mayweather, this will be like moving a mountain with your bare hands.
