By Jason Kim: On HBO’s Mayweather-Ortiz 24/7 episode 2, Oscar De La Hoya was busy giving WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz a pep talk during the early portion of the episode, pointing out that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is 34-years-old now now, hasn’t fought in over a year and half and is going to to have a lot of ring rust for an aging fighter.
De La Hoya also reminded Ortiz about Mayweather’s limited opposition in recent years, talking about Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley and himself. De La Hoya pointed out that Hatton was small, and seemed on the verge of giving a comment about Mosley but decided not. De La Hoya then said “He [Mayweather] should be the underdog.”
De La Hoya did a good job of motivating Ortiz, not that he really needs it for this fight. But it clearly seemed to bolster Ortiz’s confidence because he was following every word that De La Hoya said with great detail. But De La Hoya is right. Mayweather is getting up there in age, and he’s looking older now since his last fight a year ago against a shot Shane Mosley.
In that fight, Mosley was still able to stagger Mayweather Jr. in the 2nd round. Had Mosley not run out of gas at that point, there’s no telling what he could have done with Floyd. Now Mayweather is almost two years older, and hasn’t been fighting all this time. The Mosley fight was a mismatch, as was Mayweather’s fight against a smaller Juan Manuel Marquez in 2009.
Ortiz is a lot younger than those guys, bigger and stronger as well. That changes everything. You got an older Mayweather facing his best opponent in at least seven or eight years. It’s coming at the wrong time for Mayweather following another long layoff.
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