Earlier today Floyd Mayweather announced he will be back in the ring this September against Victor Ortiz. Floyd stated on his twitter page “my fans have waited long enough. FloydMayweather vs. Victor Ortiz, Sept 17th for the WBC World Championship”.
In a matter of minutes every boxing outlet was retweeting, posting on their websites, and writing their columns about the announcement. Needless to say Mayweather can turn a Tuesday into a firestorm of debates. Boxing columnists debating about the fight, messages boards and boxing fans weighing in on Mayweather’s opponent, topics as to why he decided to fight now, money issues, possible jail time and the most popular topic for the better part of a Year…Manny Pacquiao.
While this fight is exciting , it’s not Pacquiao. For many, the announcement is a little bit of a letdown. Ortiz has a “punchers chance” but Mayweather has proven he can take a punch but he also is considered Pound for Pound the best fighter in the world. Ortiz, for all the appraise he’s received for beating Andre Berto back in April, Ortiz is no Mayweather.
Team Ortiz has 3 months to come up with a game plan for Mayweather and hopefully Ortiz can execute the perfect fight plan come Sept 17th; even then it may not be enough to beat Mayweather. Noneless, I am still happy to see Mayweather back in the ring-even if it’s not Pacquiao.
Now for the next 3 months, boxing fans will be treated to the Mayweather hype machine. Mayweather will explain why he picked Ortiz, why he is the best fighter ever to box, what type of Jet he has, how much money he won on whichever sport he bet on-all the while avoiding all if not most Manny Pacquiao questions that will certainly be asked along the press tour that starts June 20th.
Fight fans will also be served with another HBO 24/7 hopefully. As scripted they may or may not be, the show is still compelling stuff. Ortiz has a good back story that HBO can really get into. It will make for must see TV. Mayweather himself is never one to be at a loss of words and he plays the villain pretty good these days. Let’s just hope there will be no urine drinking.
And then…
This past Saturday HBO and Showtime went up against one another with two fights.
Showtime showcased the second Super 6 Semifinal, Carol Froch vs. Glen Johnson. Froch won a Majority Decision that to me was a little surprising. I felt Froch handled Johnson fairly easy, now Froch will face Andre Ward the other Super 6 Semi final winner this coming fall. I would give Ward the slight edge right now, but I like Froch making it a fight. Now, cross your fingers the finals actually takes place this fall.
HBO aired the fight between Julio Cesar Jr and Sebastian Zbik, while Zbik was the better fighter in the first half of the fight,Chavez Jr rallied in second half to pull out a Majority Decision. Credit goes to his handlers; they put Chavez Jr in a position to win a title without ever facing a fighter of top quality.
If you have been following the Shobox 360 Super 6 series then you are familiar with Carl Froch’s wife, Rachel Cordingley…Yes, she’s that hot in real life.
If you’re on twitter, @loudibella is a must follow for a boxing fan. He holds little back.
I was able to be at the Froch vs. Johnson live this weekend, this was my second fight in AC, but first in the summer. I came across the wall of fame; Arturo Gatti was on the wall. It made me think how much energy a Gatti fight must have had in his adopted fight city of Atlantic City when he fought. R.I.P.Thunder
R.I.P. to Genaro Hernandez