By John F. McKenna (McJack): Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda – The fact that Floyd Mayweather Jr (41-0, 25 KO’s) is a great fighter is irrefutable. He is arguably the best fighter of his generation and possibly the greatest defensive fighter ever. Mayweather will challenge World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KO’s) for his title on September 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Floyd is also known to possess a cockiness and arrogance to go along with his superstar status as a fighter.
As good as “Money” Mayweather is however his lifestyle and arrogance itself may catch up with him. Floyd has demonstrated in the past that he has the ability to compartmentalize and focus on the task at hand. His current task of course is training for his fight with the 24 year old powerhouse that is Victor Ortiz. Up to this point Mayweather has been able to juggle all the balls in the air at one time. He is heavily involved in the HBO 24/7 reality show in which he got involved in a mega on camera dispute with Floyd Mayweather Sr. He has also been playing it up for the cameras with his good buddy 50 Cent. And then there are the numerous lawsuits “Money” is involved in. In between all of that Floyd fires off barbs at his arch rival Manny Pacquiao in the endless game of “will he or won’t he fight Pacquiao?”
By the time Floyd climbs into the ring with Ortiz it will have been sixteen months since his last fight. It goes without saying that self confidence is a prerequisite for a top tier fighter like Floyd Mayweather Jr. But no fighter is immune from becoming overly distracted by the events surrounding him, not even Mayweather.
Floyd will be 35 years old this coming February. While Victor Ortiz is working hard in preparation for the September 17 showdown Mayweather has allowed himself to be distracted by events not related to the showdown with Ortiz. That is not to say that Maweather won’t be in superb condition on September 17, he most certainly will be.
But outside events can make a fighter lose focus.
Boxing history is full of instances in which a seemingly invincible fighter lost to a fighter of lesser ability. Mike Tyson lost to a very motivated Buster Douglas. Max Baer lost to the “Cinderella Man” Jimmy Braddock. Joe Louis lost to Max Schemeling in their first fight. In each of those instances Tyson, Baer and Louis started believing their own press clippings, and thought all they had to do was show up.
Victor Ortiz is a huge underdog, but he is a very motivated fighter. It will be interesting to see if all that is going on around Floyd Mayweather Jr. affects his performance in the ring on September 17.
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