By Louis Bustamante: First of all being an Official for USA Boxing I can tell you that Floyd Mayweather didn’t break any rules, that shot was completely legal. Contrary to what a lot of people are saying, Referee Joe Cortez clearly said “let’s go” and waved them in to fight.
This is standard procedure to signal for action to continue. Had Cortez either not voiced “let’s go” or not waved them in, then it would have been an illegal shot and Mayweather could have been disqualified, or had a point deducted and Victor Ortiz would have been given 5 minutes to recover. For some reason people are blaming the referee, saying he didn’t resume the fight, and wasn’t paying attention. If you watch the fight again you will see he did resume the action. As for saying he wasn’t paying attention, frankly after he resumed the action there was not much he could have done. Even if his eyes had been locked on Mayweather, those punches would still have been thrown.
Being a former boxer myself I can tell you that when a boxer is hit with a cheap shot like a head butt, especially after already taking a couple of good shots, it angers them and sometimes they may black out for a second and lash out (especially when its someone who is as egotistical/emotional/street as Mayweather) After Cortez waved them back in Mayweather was clearly ready to fight. Ortiz wanted to hug and kiss while Mayweather was itching to strike. If you look closely when Ortiz is hugging Mayweather, Floyd puts his hands up as if he were defending on the inside, a sign that he was ready to fight again. Then he gives Ortiz a kind of “How dare you touch me” kind of look and attacked. Defend yourself at all times, as soon as Ortiz took that step back for all Mayweather knew Ortiz could have hit him, so he decided to do it first. It was a cheap shot but a legal one.
Larry Merchant was right, if you’re the best fighter you shouldn’t have to do that. Maybe it wasn’t the nicest thing to do, but in a fight nothing is nice. Floyd was raised fighting, “when someone hits you, you hit back” in the streets you don’t hug and kiss during a fight, and frankly Mayweather has that mentality, always has and always will. Of course to us observers a boxing match is completely different from a street fight, yet sometimes when you’re actually in the ring those differences can be very subtle. There isn’t much room for affection in a boxing ring. Tapping gloves I could understand, maybe even a hug, but when Ortiz kissed someone with the “machismo” of Mayweather after deliberately head butting him, that was probably crossing the line. You could even see in Mayweathers face after the initial hug and kiss that Mayweather was disgusted and had a “wtf” look.
That kind of thing can be seen as an insult to most fighters, being kissed during a fight. I understand Ortiz had good intentions but that probably still pissed Mayweather off, and right there he made up his mind to get back at Ortiz. When Ortiz came in again to hug Mayweather, Floyd was ready to fight and struck out. Some may claim that even in war there are moral ethics that should be followed, but like General George S. Patton said: “May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won’t.
Although Floyd threw a hard shot, I don’t think he intended to have the fight stopped on that punch. I think he was just a bit flustered from the previous events. Being bullied in a corner like that, and then being head butted must have hurt his ego, and he just wanted revenge. He saw an opportunity and took it. Was it the right thing to do? Maybe not, but a win is a win, especially to someone like Floyd. Though as I said before I’m fairly certain he didn’t want to win like that. He knew he was looking good on his way to winning and didn’t need to do that. You could just see how bad Floyd wanted to win. He was actually being the aggressor which he’s hardly ever done, especially against someone as powerful as Ortiz. Floyd was walking Ortiz down just to prove to everyone he could. He could have easily played his usual hit and run tactics, and probably would still have won like that, but he wanted to prove us wrong. Most boxers wouldn’t dare take that gamble against someone as well respected as Ortiz, yet sometimes you have to dare to be great. Mayweather sucked it up, manned up and went after Ortiz to take back the belt he once held. Victory was inevitable, and it certainly would have been brilliant while it lasted, so I doubt Mayweather would rob himself of a career defining victory just to get a quick way out.
I think he just reacted in the moment, didn’t give it much thought and just let his emotions do the thinking. You could even see during the post-fight interview Mayweather seemed a bit uneasy when questioned about his tactics and quickly went on the defense, probably because, although he will never admit it, he is embarrassed. In a moment of weakness he succumbed to his childish/selfish instincts. The way he was fighting it seemed this was supposed to be his shining moment were he proved everyone wrong by finally beating a young powerful champion in stunning fashion, but even he didn’t envision it ending like that.
Yet let’s not lose sight of what was going on. Regardless of how the fight ended it was clear that Mayweather was in charge. He landed 35% of his punches compared to Ortiz’s 17%. He landed at will, and was backing up the champion. History has shown us that in fights like this, an inactive 34 year old boxer, who relies on his speed/reflexes to win, vs. a young strong, fast, confident champ, usually the young upstart will win. It is very rare that the opposite happens. It is even rarer that the 34 year old changes his style and comes at the young lion to eventually knock him out, especially after almost a year and a half layoff. That perhaps is the more interesting story of the night. Floyd wasn’t kidding when he said he was going to come at Ortiz. I personally didn’t believe him and thought it was just hype.
Yet when I saw him backing up Ortiz, I was shocked at how bold and in control Floyd seemed. After all it was Ortiz who was supposed to be backing Floyd up all night, while Floyd ran around the ring pecking at Ortiz from a safe distance. Coming into this fight Ortiz had dropped and/or stopped, his last 15 opponents (and they were a respectable 15 boxers at that) that statistic would usually deter most safety first boxers from throwing caution to the wind. So even though the ending may have been ugly, let’s not forget the beauty that was beginning to transpire as Mayweather peppered Ortiz with those laser right hand leads.
Where they go from here is a bit unclear. For Ortiz it’s another disappointment in a life littered with them. He should keep his head held high though because most observes won’t consider it a legitimate knock out, and in the long run it probably won’t hurt Victors career much. I wish there was some sort of loophole in the rules that the referee could have used to give Victor a couple extra seconds to gather himself like they do when an illegal shot is thrown. It would have been interesting to see if Ortiz could have continued pushing Mayweather to the ropes. Unfortunately there isn’t and so Ortiz will have to live with this loss, because even though he said it, I doubt Mayweather will give him a rematch. Expect to see Ortiz back in action early next year in an easy fight to build his confidence before he starts taking on more high profile fights. This fight has made Ortiz one of the more well-known fighters in/around his division so he should get a lot of fight offers. Mayweather will not waste time fighting him again, the fight wasn’t that close for the public to demand a rematch, and Mayweather only has 1 or 2 more fights left. Manny Pacquiao might want to fight him if Mayweather – Pacquiao doesn’t happen.
As for Mayweather in a career that’s destined for the hall of fame, this may have been one of his better performances. He may not have been as fast and nimble as a younger Floyd, but that was quickly overshadowed by the new, aggressive Floyd. I have not seen him open up as freely as he did in this fight in a while. Those quick combos really captured the imagination. Especially when you take into consideration the quality of his opposition in this fight. There is not much left for Floyd in the sport of boxing. Yea he could defend his new belt and take on another top contender, but really who would care? Sure we would all pay to see it, but in reality unless were talking Pacquiao everything else just kind of seems irrelevant. I would rather see Mayweather retire now than end up losing to some unworthy challenger. He is 34 going on 35 and most boxers are seriously considering retirement by that age. The only other option besides Pacquiao that might be interesting is if he moves up to middleweight to try and win another belt in a different weight class. Yet for a 5ft8, 35 year old, that started his career at less than 130lbs, going up to 160 might be a bit too much to ask.
Then of course that leaves us with Manny Pacquiao. If the two ever fought it would be the richest prize fight in history. They would shatter all records. They are both considered the 2 best fighters in the world, yet most seem divided on who is better. A classic matchup between brawler and boxer (although Floyd did demonstrate a previously unseen willingness to slug tonight) this fight would be one for the ages. They have come close to fighting before, yet minor details kept preventing it. The latest is Mayweather claiming Pacquaio has to take blood tests. Manny has agreed yet now Floyd says that he wants Manny (who lives in the Philippines) to train solely in America for the fight so he can be tested here. Manny will probably not agree to that so the fight probably won’t happen.
The ball is really in Mayweathers court. Manny has agreed to almost everything Mayweather has asked yet Mayweather keeps demanding more. Pacquaio is the pound for pound champ and does not need Floyd just as Floyd doesn’t really need Manny. Although in terms of their legacy, both will suffer if the fight doesn’t happen. They are both a shade past their prime and waiting any longer will certainly make the fight less appealing. Only way I see Floyd pushing for the fight is if Manny looks bad against Marquez. I doubt Ortiz will be Mayweathers last fight, he loves the spotlight, and I doubt he wants the result of this fight to be what he is remembered by. If the Pacquaio fight doesn’t happen he will probably take one more easy fight and then retire undefeated.
No matter what we say about him, history doesn’t lie. Hate him or love him Floyd is one of the best to ever lace up the gloves. Maybe not THE best but hey, how many other people can say they’re THE best? One thing we can say about Mayweather is he’s a master of controversy, he knows how to keep people talking, even after the fights. If Mayweather retires tomorrow he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest defensive masters of all time. If he waits to fight Pacquiao, and actually beats him, then he reaches a new plateau where you have to seriously ask yourself why you ever questioned him. The topic of conversation will change from “Is he great?” to “how great is he!?!?!” Yet he isn’t, nor will he ever be THE best, that title my friends will always be held by the greatest prizefighter who ever lived, “Sugar” Ray Robinson.
My estimation is that as far as welterweights go he is probably somewhere around the 6th or 7th best welterweight of all time (That’s only including career welterweights, not other great fighters who only fought once or twice at that weight) If he beats Pacquiao he goes up a spot or two depending on the fashion he beats him in. That’s about as far as it goes. He has wasted away too much of his career to ever break through the top 4. Who knows, maybe if he had fought more than 3 times in the last 4 years he could have racked up another 15 wins and really earned his way up the all-time ladder. Yet he choose to sit back collect his money and just talk the talk, assuring us of everything he “would” do, and only sparingly ever actually showing what he “could” do. Still 6th best welterweight of all time ain’t half bad for a poor kid from Michigan. So let’s just appreciate a man who has fought hard to earn it, yet somehow never got the praise he deserved. Here’s to you Floyd, boy we love to hate you =P
*By the way everyone just to set the record straight. I am not really a Floyd Mayweather fan, at least I didn’t start out as one. I have grudgingly begun to respect him simply because I have realized there is no way I can’t. His skills speak for themselves…
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