As I watched the mega jumbo screen set up high up in L.A.’s Staples Center’s roof from my ringside seat at the “Canelo” Alvarez-Alfonso Gomez WBC super welterweight title fight, I couldn’t believe my eyes when Victor Ortiz lunged in with his head and struck Floyd Mayweather Jr. square on the lip. Seconds later, after much apologizing from Ortiz and a point deduction, Mayweather proceeded to cold cock Ortiz during a controversial lull in the action or break from it (depending who you ask). Ortiz was not able to beat the count administered by referee Joe Cortez and Mayweather Jr. walked away as the newly crowned WBC welterweight champion amidst boos from not only the attending Las Vegas crowd but the L.A. one too and I am sure millions in homes, bars and everything in between across the globe.
Everything that can be said regarding Ortiz’s, Mayweather’s and Cortez’s behavior in that fourth round has been said, written and thought since last Saturday. I feel that I must add my two cents so here they are.
Let’s not forget that everything began with Ortiz’s flagrant foul. Ortiz, from the first seconds of HBO’s “24/7” until about ten seconds before the end of the fourth round, always struck me as a kid that was way over his head, immature and unable to control his emotions. That head butt, in my estimation, was nothing but him showing frustration from not being able to execute his game plan against the near perfect Mayweather Jr. His excessive hugging and kissing after the fact only seconded my thoughts. Many might not agree with me but I do consider that actions of “Money” much worse. Yes, it has been said what if it was the other way around and Mayweather Jr. was the one that was punched before he was ready? Will we feel the same way?
What I thought at the end of the bout once I was able to put my thoughts in order was what if Ortiz had gotten really hurt, like suffering some type of head trauma? Would we still think that Mayweather Jr’s cheap shots were legal?
As far as Cortez is concerned, I only have one thought, he must retire.
I think Juan Manuel Marquez put it best when he released the following statement on his twitter:
Yes, you should always keep your hands up and not drop them but professionalism exists as well. If you’re a professional, you should fight as one and win cleanly. There is such a thing as sportsmanship.
Morales Champion Again
On the undercard of Mayweather-Ortiz, we saw a familiar sight once again, Tijuana’s Erik “Terrible” Morales holding once again a WBC green and gold belt around his waist. Many of us thought we would never see such a sight after Morales took nearly a two and a half year hiatus after his close loss to David Diaz for the lightweight version. After ballooning to over 200 lbs., Morales dedicated himself to the difficult task to getting back to somewhat of a fighting weight. The pudgy version of Morales that we saw defeat late sub Pablo Cesar Cano for the vacant super lightweight title was as close as we were going to get.
Twenty years, a super bantamweight Morales in his prime would have made mincemeat of Cano in three rounds but now we must be satisfied with Morales going to hell in back to get his wins.
I am not complaining.
Who knows what is next for Morales but a nice payday when he defends his title. I don’t believe that he has enough in the tank to defeat the elite of the 140 lbs. division but I am not going to turn my head and not watch because if somebody has the will to pull an upset, it is Morales.
Gesta on the Brink
On the other fight card presented last Friday by Top Rank in Parker, Arizona, lightweight contender Mercito Gesta finally found somebody to go ten rounds with him in Manny Perez of Denver, Colorado. The quick as lighting southpaw from San Diego won a unanimous decision that was broadcast on Fox Sports net.
Gesta is tentatively scheduled to appear again on November 11th in Las Vegas, on the eve of Pacquiao-Marquez III, Top Rank’s way of taking advantage of the sizable Filipino audience that will be in the Nevada desert. It is rumored that there is something much more enticing for Gesta instead but we will have to wait and see if that comes to fruition.
Is Orozco Ready?
Another local fighter that took an important step this past weekend was Antonio Orozco. He fought to a six round unanimous decision versus Fernando Rodriguez. Coming into the fight, Rodriguez had a slightly better than .500 record.
Orozco, who suffered an injury last year that took him out for several months and a misfortunate illness earlier this year that made him pull out of a match, got the much needed rounds versus Rodriguez. I understand that this match up was Orozco’s debut under his new promoter’s banner, Golden Boy Promotions. I am ready to see Orozco, who in my opinion has all the intangibles for a world title as well as all the tangibles such as a great amateur pedigree, a solid corner, a world class manager and enough skills in his tool box, to take a slight step up. I’m not asking for a stern test but something a little tougher than the late Humberto Tapia who has been Orozco’s most difficult opponent. I want to see how Orozco reacts to waters a little bit deeper than the wading pool. At 12-0 with 8Kos, I think he is ready but then again, I don’t sign the checks.
Just Like Old Times
Last week, being the celebration of Mexico’s Independence, I attended three different fight cards on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I could have gone to one on Sunday too but due to my day job, it was not possible. The action reminded me of when I first began to cover fights for Fightnews.com about six years ago. Each of the fight cards I attended was vastly different except for one thing, the boxing inside the ring. At the end of the night, no matter if the fight card is held in a Rosarito Gymnasium like the Thursday night Zanfer Promotions one or in a San Diego hotel hall like the Friday night Bobby D. Presents one or in L.A.’s Staples Center like the one put together by Golden Boy Promotions, two guys are inside a square throwing gloved punches at each other.
Gotta love it!
Cortez was suppose to be in-between the fighters when he yelled at the time keeper “time” for time in. Then he was suppose to wave the fighters together and say “lets go”. He did the opposite, which confuse the hell out of Ortiz. He instead waved the fighters together and said “lets go”, and then the fighters touched gloves one more time. This is when Cortez yelled at the time keeper “time” and Ortiz thought the ref was calling another time out! Mayweather hit Ortiz with a left hook that appeared to me to be like a warning shot. Ortiz looked at the ref like if he was going to complain that Mayweather hit him on the break. But there was no break! Mayweather seemed to pause a bit before landing the knockout blow. The two punches were not a rapid fire combination which shows me that Mayweather was confused also! If the ref would have been in-between the fighters when he yelled “time” and then waved the fighters to box, this would have never happened. Maybe Cortez drinks too much, or maybe he’s just too old, or maybe he’s not in his right mind anymore, or maybe all of the above!
@Donald The only thing I’m saying about Cortez is that he needed to seperate the fighters for a second time before taking his attention away from the fight. Thats all
Crazy but great drama. Both were dirty. But Floyd will still bring more fans to boxing by embrassing the villian role. He is the anti-suger Ray leonard but as much a must see. Boxing will loss out to mma if not for people like Floyd, Margarito, pacquiao, Remember heavy weight boxing is dead. Do u want the sport to die. Where I live you can hardly have a fight party unless Floyd is fighting. Evereyone still wants Tyson to be a winner not because he was the best heavyweight in history but becuase he told Lenox Lewis he would eat his children. He kept people interested when he couldn’t even fight any more. Pacqiao mayweather is even bigger now than ever. Plus mayweather did ortiz a favor. He will get bigger pay days now. And if he wanted to be the next Oscar he is closer now. Just imagine if he beat Floyd, he would be a national hero until pacqiauo knocked he head off. Then he would be forgotten about. Boxing is still alive because of Heros and Villians.
Far to much non necessary controversy here. Exactly what do the critics of referee Cortez expect him to have done here ? Penalize, or even disqualify Mayweather for punching his opponent on a clean break, an opponent that had his hands at his sides ? Or maybe he should have given Ortiz time to recover from what was yes, a cheap shot, but in-fact a legal punch. ? Cortez did what any other professional referee had to do under the rules of boxing, he counted Ortiz out. Millions of fans would like to see Mayweather beaten, but whomever thought that Ortiz could get it done is thinking with their hearts and not their heads. Ortiz proved, again, that though he is a very talented young fighter, he is also a very erratic performer. Anytime when a fighter has “quit” in a previous encounter there is a problem there that will rear it’s ugly head in the future, and Ortiz was coming apart again when he got hit with what was a not-so-sportsman-like-shot, but a legal one just the same. It is what it is, a popular young erratic-tempered fighter way over his head in a fight with an unpopular proven great technician, and a referee that’s supposed to follow the rules and did just that. Do fans of Ortiz actually think he would have come-on to win that contest ? Please ! Come on fans, stop with the excuses, get over it….
Spell check on my comment i just posted: I meant to say “GARBAGE’!
I still cant believe wht I seen the night of the Ortiz/Mayweather fight, I sit here read alot of these comments of tht fight and agree here and there with certain comments tht were and are being posted! ORTIZ, REALLY???, were you tht frustrated of Mayweather tht much to HEAD-BUT HIM?? I ve watched alot of Ortiz’s fights, don’t get me wrong, he’s a good fighter! My question is: WTF has “PROFESSIONAL BOXING” come to??? This is the kind of behavior tht throws me off about boxing, I ve been a LONG TIME fan of the sport, it just blows my mind to spend money on garage like WE ALL SEEN THT NIGHT!!! Ortiz let ALOT of people dwn tht night, NO EXCUSES!!! Pro boxing has DEF changed over these last 10 yrs, ( I don’t feel like I need to explain it, if your a TRUE fan of the sport, YOU KNO WHT I M GETTING AT). I could keep on going but I’m gonna finish on a “LIGHTER NOTE” Ortiz/Mayweather 2 . . . . . . . . GTFOH!!! Thats one fight I DEF dont care to watch!!! Ay te watcho’
I knew as soon as I found out Cortez was officiating this fight that there was to be controversy. I don’t like Cortez, he’s not as bad as Russell Mora but he’s no Kenny Bayless. Either way nobody was going to save Ortiz from losing the fight, and getting frustrated but the way the fight ended it certainly could have been prevented with a ref not past his officiating prime such as Cortez. I don’t lay blame down on just Cortez, all three men in the ring that night were truly unprofessional, I don’t care to see any kind of rematch as much as I don’t Cortez officiating another big fight.
@Jay I couldn’t say it better my self.
Comments about the ref in the Mayweather v. Ortiz fight are right on – Cortez lost control of that bout and Ortiz could have been badly hurt. WILL SOMEONE PLEASE FIGURE OUT WHAT IT WAS THAT ORTIZ SAID TO MAYWEATHER THAT MADE FLOYD SO MAD??? Watch the tape, Ortiz leans in to supposedly apologize again – yeah right. After thirty plus years of sitting ringside ringing that bell for the amateurs, he leaned in to say something else entirely, and if you look close, he also kind of nods forward with his head – simulating another head-butt? Whatever he did or said, you can see it on Floyd’s face, one second Floyd is just looking at him, the next he’s MAD!
Totally agree!!! This was not good 4 boxing.. U have mma breathing down ur neck and u have these clowns doing this to boxing. Someone should step up and start fixing a sport that has always had the potential be mainstream.. Beside the hardcore boxing fan u thing the casual fan is going to pay 70 to watch 4 rounds of a street fight.. Not even in mma this is legal!! And I consider mma STREETFIGHT!!!!
I feel the same way about the Ortiz/Mayweather fight Felipe. I think all three of the men in that ring screwed up big time. All the oldest rules in the book were broken in this fight, I could’nt believe what I saw. Ortiz showed his immaturity with the head butt and he could have said sorry when the fight was over, its not like their friends or anything. Floyd never fails to show his immaturity & lack of class, sucker punching someone is wrong no matter if its a street fight or a professional boxing match. Like you said Felipe he could have really hurt Ortiz and if he would’ve been hurt ppl would’nt have cared if was legal cuz everyone out there damb well knows it was dirty as dirty can be. It doesnt matter what Ortiz did its still dirty, and this isnt the first time Floyd has sucker punched someone. If Ortiz did that to floyd I’d bet he’d be disqaulified or at the least called a cheater, but cuz it was mayflower its ok cuz its legal (stupid).
And Cortez ooohhh!! Joe Cortez, you F–ked up so bad. Cortez failed as a ref. I’m sorry to say. He failed to stop the fight & send the fighters to their neutral corners before turning to speek to who ever he was talking to outside the ring. He took his attention away from the fighters without stopping the action and that is the biggest taboo for a ref. Cortezs lack of attention and Ortizs ignorance gave floyd the oppertunity for the cheap shot, Cortez did’nt even see the left hook that landed before the right hand. That was one of th worst mistakes I’ve ever seen a ref make and I’ve seen alot. It was a sad performance from all three guys. I’ve been a boxing fan all my life and I’ve never seen such a disappointing lack of professionalism in that squared circle. Maybe one guy but all three (come on), can someone please tell me WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO BOXING??? WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE SPORT WE ALL LUV??? IS JUST ABOUT MONEY AND RATINGS NOW??? WHAT EVER HAPPEND TO RESPECT AND HONOR???THESE ARENT THE KIND OF THINGS THAT JUST GO OUT OF STYLE, NO MATTER WHAT AGE WE LIVE IN.
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