This weekend was not exactly the coming out party both Golden Boy and HBO were looking to deliver. Young Victor Ortiz was touted as the next face of boxing. The, “he has it all” type of guy. The problem was his opponent, hard hitting Marcos Maidana. If you didn’t know, Maidana stopped Ortiz in round 6 in a 5 knockdown war. Marcos hits hard and his record is now 26-1 with 25 KO’s. No joke when you get to 25 KO’s no matter who you are fighting. Ortiz is now 24-2-1 with 19 KO’s but his record is not the concern, it is his will to go to war at all costs that people will now question for at least one more fight.
I say one more because in this sport you really are only as good as your last fight. Take Cotto for example, if he knocked Clottey out in a round or two people would be saying he is back and Pacman should look out. You would forget the beating Margarito put on him in only his last fight and before the fight was stopped, Cotto was displaying body language that he did not want to continue. Sound familiar? So next time out Cotto gets a nasty cut and fights hard until the final bell. He did not gain any new fans but he showed his heart and is in line to get a big check to fight Pac and if he wins he will be considered a top five pound for pound fighter.
Recently, Robert Guerrero was tabbed the same way and came back and fought through a cut and now has a chance to get a title in August. So that is my blueprint for Ortiz to get back on track, get back in the ring with a tough but not world class opponent and show the world and yourself that you can fight through tough times in the ring and win or lose, you have the heart and desire to be in this sport.
The real culprit in this is Golden Boy who rushed the hell out of Ortiz and put him in front of thousands on national TV and against a bad ass puncher like Maidana. What were they thinking exactly? The result may have differed if that fight was at Home Depot or even Nokia and Ortiz had less pressure and a smaller gate. Either way, neither Golden Boy or HBO was behind Ortiz stopping the show but they are not completely off the hook.
The circumstances are different but I keep thinking about Fransisco Bojado who was another Olympic, power punching can’t miss guy who took a few losses and never made a difference in the sport again. He has not fought since 2007 and he is only 26! Let’s hope Ortiz digs deep and is fed the right opponents and gets another shot at stardom. The power and the skill are there but he has to find out about his heart and his desire to truly be remembered in the hurt business.
Quien es mas Macho??? Not Ortiz
“Can Ortiz bounce back?”
Imo, Ortiz is as good now as he is ever going to be. I don’t see no super star in Ortiz even if he had the heart that is needed in boxing, which he doesn’t have. Golden Boy and HBO baby the guy too much, and when he went against a live opponent he gave up. So much for Ortiz, who we were been told was going to be the savior of boxing.
Look at that expression on his face after the fight, he doesn’t even care.
Get him out of here!!!
Ortiz first needs to gain some respect of fans, and work on his heart, or maybe he should by a new one instead. Because he said a very very stupid thing during his interview after the fight, very upsetting to fans.
Too me that a punk, especially after that statement. With that attitude he should probably think of a new career, he’s in the wrong sport.
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