The Barry Bonds of boxing was at it again…It was supposed to be Floyd Money Mayweather’s weekend to shine and make a statement to his haters and doubters. It was supposed to be Boxing’s weekend, instead, it was just another controversial weekend in the controversial sport of boxing. And as for Mayweather, this weekend has only added fuel to the fire burning in the hearts of his critics.
Heading into Saturday night’s fight against Victor Ortiz, Floyd Mayweather was an 8-1 favorite by many books to mop up the floor with Ortiz. But the result of this fight left mixed feelings throughout the boxing world.
While Money May got paid and ultimately delivered on his promise to KO Ortiz, viewers who paid to watch the four rounds on Pay Per View had to have been a little disappointed at the way it all ended.
To be real, Ortiz fought what some may call a less than clean fight and even managed to catch Mayweather with a headbutt which led to a stoppage. When the two boxers returned to the middle of the ring to touch gloves, before you could say the words “sucker punch” the fight was over and Mayweather had knocked Ortiz out.
It had to happen when the fight was getting good, when people were thinking this is what I paid to see, then in a blink of an eye, pure disappointment as viewers watched an absent minded Ortiz with his hands down, get his bell rung.
There’s many ways people can look at what happened. On one hand you have those in the Ortiz corner that will surely demand a rematch and argue that it wasn’t a fair fight and Ortiz had a real opportunity to pull the upset.
On the other hand, you will have those boxing fans that will sadly admit this was just more controversy and another unfortunate black eye for the sport of boxing.
The truth is, when you step into a boxing ring with a man who is 41-0, you better keep your hands up and be prepared at all times.
Somewhere in the background you will have those in Mayweather’s corner that will tell you that no matter how you look at it, sucker punch or not, controversial or legitimate, a knockout is a knockout and 42-0 is still 42-0 and money is still green.
Ortiz in the post fight interview was a little to cheerful in my books for someone who thought they had lost in an unfair fight. Maybe he’s staying positive, maybe he’s wearing man panties, either way, he doesn’t sound like a champion.
According to Money Mayweather, he did what he had to do. It’s hard to argue with that.
And in case you were wondering, (and we all are) if Pac-Man is next in line, don’t hold your breath, Mayweather says he doesn’t need to fight him.
