It’s funny to read about the Mayweather fight especially since I didn’t see it. People are surely asking me that how could I not see the fight last night and my answer is simple… I’m not interested.
I haven’t been interested in Mayweather for years, I think he’s an asshole, I think he’s a prick and I’ve thought for years that he’s bad for the sport. Pound for pound best? Never registered on my Richter scale because he never cleaned out a division like a Marvelous Marvin Hagler, a Juan Manuel Marquéz, A Manny Pacquiao, or a Roy Jones Junior in his prime. Is he talented? Of course he is, I’ve never denied that. But I can’t help but think he’s the type of person whose main way of challenging themselves is in the gym. He’s had a notorious streak of taking on over classed opposition and this case wasn’t an exception.
Sure Ortiz was bigger than Floyd, but that’s about it. Victor has a tendency to square up his shoulders and invite trading and when you fight a master counter puncher like Floyd, that’s just asking for trouble. Case in point Juan Díaz Versus Juan Manuel Marquéz. In their first fight, Díaz showed he was stronger and faster, but Marquéz showed he was better. He picked his spots, threw combinations and fought fire with fire, offering one of the better knockout victories I've ever had the pleasure of watching.
In the highlights I’ve seen from last night, it never seemed like a fight. Floyd dominated with superior punching skills (this we knew) and quicker hand speed (something he’s always had but is content to leave in the holster). Surprisingly some people were surprised at Floyd being faster than Victor. I wasn’t because Floyd has always been fast as hell, you just don’t see him put 4 punch combinations together for the most part… last time I remember it was in the fights vs. Gatti and Diego Corrales.
But let’s go back to the first thing I said… I didn’t watch the fight. Why? Simple, I didn’t want to give the guy any more money. I would have seriously tried to find a way of seeing it for free, but there it was again, I just didn’t care about a Floyd fight and this doesn’t seem likely to change unless he fights Manny Pacquiao.
What really surprises me though is that people are so in shock of what happened last night, namely these 4 things:
1. Floyd dominated the younger Ortiz easily
2. Joe Cortez seemed to shun Ortiz and seemed to be on the side of Floyd
3. Floyd pretty much sucker punched Ortiz to knock him out
4. Floyd cussed out Larry Merchant and ended up looking like a prick
1. Floyd was always going to dominate Victor Ortiz. Sure Victor is a strong hungry champion, but he was out of his league for sure. Something I never had a doubt of skill wise, but that physically might have become a factor if the fight entered the late rounds and if he bull rushed Floyd enough to make him perspire slightly. Skill wise, you just need to see the Berto and Maidana fights to see that Ortiz can get hit and dropped.
2. In defense of Joe Cortez, the head butt was blatant and merited the point deduction. Some people say that he deserved a warning, but when you’re that intentional, there’s no break… regarding the rest of the fight… I didn’t see it, so I don’t know… and I don’t care. There are a couple of referees that aren’t on my nice list and the last couple of years, Joe has done enough for me to worry every time he’s in a big name fight. Unfortunately, Steve Smoger and Tony Weeks can’t be in every fight but hey, at least it’s not Jay Nady or Vic Draculich, and please let us not even mention the name Laurence Cole. Whatever he did was to be expected and on numerous cases, he’s been accused of over indulging in the favorite’s corner.
3. Protect yourself at all times… The most basic of boxing axioms and one Floyd is quick to quote when his tactics are questionable. That’s exactly what he said in the Gatti fight… another fight where he didn’t need to do what he did, but did so anyways. It happened near the end of round #1 of their fight when he sucker punched Gatti when Gatti thought they were being separated and of course everyone was disgusted. If there’s anything I could say in Floyd’s defense is that Victor, although a spirited and exciting fighter, is not exactly bright… He apologized three times to Floyd… I’m not sure if he was expecting a timeout so they could talk things over and make sure that everything was cool. So though it’s unfortunate how it ended, I can’t help but blame Victor because it’s not like Floyd has never shown behavior of this type ever before.
4. This isn’t the first time Larry has had issues with a fighter… you just have to look at post fight interviews between Larry and Bernard Hopkins for this type of entertainment. What was a shock was to see Larry Merchant wish to be younger to kick Floyd’s ass. Probably the most tantalizing moment of the night. Last I checked, Larry Merchant was just as unbeloved as Floyd… People have asked for his retirement for years and maybe in the next fight it’ll be up to Max Kellerman to ask Floyd the questions he doesn’t want to answer, but the reality is that Floyd could have handled this a million other ways, but he didn’t. He ended up berating Merchant and coming off as the asshole… yet again.
But after all is said and done… Floyd gets another victory, a KO no less and he can maintain his bragging rights while giving his next opponent some cannon fodder when they start things up with 24/7. Pretty funny to see that the best contribution of a boxer is to make a reality TV program about his preparation for his next bout and that up to now, not one of his fights has lived up to the hype.
And THAT’S why I didn’t watch last night. I didn’t want to give him my money, and instead watched something that was endlessly more entertaining, a 3hr. block of Ghost Adventures.
But after all is said and done, now I can only wonder one thing… after this performance, will Ring Magazine still see fit to put Floyd at #1 on the pound for pound list? Or will the way in which he got his KO win factor into his rank among the world’s best fighters. Food for thought.
Cheers
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