By John F. McKenna (McJack): Referee Joe Cortez was warned ahead of time that former champion Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO’s) would retaliate against new WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) if he perceived that Floyd was fighting dirty according to Victor’s trainer Danny Garcia.

In an interview with Ring TV.com Garcia said the following:

“I still think we can beat him and that we were going to beat him. The fight was pretty even and it was going the way I expected. I expected the first four or five rounds that we were going to be losing for a few rounds. I knew that. But we were doing better than I thought.

“I knew that after the fifth or sixth round that Victor was going to fight harder and harder and that he was going to start coming on and that we were going to put him down.

When asked about the intentional headbutt Garcia said:

“Yeah, well he headbutted because I told Joe Cortez right before the fight in the dressing room that might happen.

Garcia said he told Cortez “You’re a good referee, you have a lot of experience, and I really like the way you do your job. But please, please keep in mind that Floyd Mayweather throws a lot with the elbows. If you don’t take a point away from Floyd or something and control his elbows and stop him from fighting dirty, then Victor’s going to do something wrong too.

“I told him that Victor is going to throw a low blow or a headbutt. I told him that, yes in front of Victor. Within the first four rounds, Victor was getting hit with elbows two or three times good in the mouth.”

Garcia went on to say that he did not specifically tell Victor in the fourth round to headbutt, but he was going to tell him to do it in the later rounds if Mayweather continued to use his elbows.

There have been assertions by some that Cortez let the Mayweather – Ortiz fight get out of his grasp. It is clear however that Ortiz blew whatever chance he had of defeating Floyd when he delivered the fateful headbutt and subsequently left his hands at his side when time was called back in. It is also thought by many that Ortiz had already given up mentally and was looking for a way out.