By John F. McKenna (McJack): Former World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-3-2-2, 22 KO’s) proved Saturday what many people already suspected. He is not ready for the big boys. “Vicious” was KO’d at the end of the 4th round by new WBC champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s).
Floyd is again at the center of a controversy after the bizarre ending of his fight with Ortiz. Don’t complain or whine that Mayweather used unsportsmanlike tactics in his win over Victor. The fact that there is a huge segment of the boxing world angry with Floyd at the manner in which he ended the fight with Ortiz means little to him. Rather than attempt to avoid controversy, Mayweather runs to it. He craves it.
Floyd has spent years cultivating his bad boy image. Why would anyone expect him to do anything different than what he did on Saturday in dispatching Ortiz? While many are upset with “Money” in the aftermath of his bout with Ortiz, he did nothing that was outside the rules.
It was thought by some after his exciting win over Andre Berto in April that Victor had arrived and was ready to take on a Mayweather or a Pacquiao. Obviously Ortiz was nowhere near ready for Floyd Mayweather. Floyd was his usual slick self, controlling the tempo of the fight and easily keeping “Vicious” at bay. In essence it was like Floyd had never been gone for sixteen months..
Unable to cope, Ortiz became frustrated and reverted to form. Near the end of the 4th round, he bulled Floyd into the ropes and came in head first with a head butt cutting Mayweather’s lip. Referee Joe Cortez immediately deducted a point from Ortiz, after which Victor began a series of apologizes. Ortiz went so far as to plant a kiss on Mayweather’s cheek. In a matter of seconds, Floyd would demonstrate in a savage way that he was not buying the apologies. Planting a kiss on Mayweather’s cheek was not the most intelligent thing for Ortiz to do either.
In short Victor forgot who he was fighting. Cortez had signaled for the fight to continue. Cortez is a well respected referee and has been involved in numerous championship fights. Ortiz seemingly oblivious to what was happening chose to act foolishly and left himself unprotected.
By his actions Ortiz demonstrated that he still needs to mature significantly as a fighter.
Only time will tell if he will ever be one of the premiere fighters in boxing.
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