Thoughts on Mayweather vs. Ortiz

Mayweather was completely dominating the fight. He knew it and Ortiz knew it. It was pretty easy to see that Ortiz was starting to get really frustrated that he was throwing six and seven punch combinations and expending lots of energy to maybe landing one glancing blow. Floyd was also landing those overhand rights pretty much at will and without much effort. If Ortiz wasn’t 15 or so pounds bigger than Floyd, he probably would have been wobbly by the fourth.

With that context, I think it’s pretty clear that Ortiz was getting frustrated and that’s why he threw not one but three head butts. I didn’t notice the first two, earlier in the fourth, my first time watching the fight. The first two didn’t land, but the referee gave warnings to watch the heads. The last one was super blatant and split Floyd’s lip in two places. I think it’s pretty clear that Ortiz was starting to realize the beating he was in for and got desperate.

After the point was deducted, Ortiz apologized profusely. Good for him! Then he kissed Floyd. Uh, ok. Then he wanted to hug and apologize a third time. Is he such a huge Floyd fan? Was he just so contrite that he wanted to apologize three or four times, plus a hug, plus a kiss? I think it’s more likely that he wasn’t really in the mood to keep getting his ass kicked.

At that point, the ref says “let’s go” and looks at the time keeper to make sure time is in. Instead of waiting until everyone was set to go, Floyd throws his hands and catches Ortiz. Even at that point, instead of defending himself, Ortiz looks to the ref and catches the second punch, rocking him gently to sleep.

Now, you can say that what Floyd did wasn’t the best sportsmanship or very classy. You can also say it denied us as fans the chance to watch him beat Ortiz up for a few more rounds. You can’t say it was illegal. The referee definitely didn’t. The rule is, protect yourself at all times. It’s that simple. It’s not like Floyd whacked him immediately after the ref tried to break them up. Ortiz had already apologized two times and was going in for yet another hug. Come on now, it’s the fight game. The hurt game. Ortiz was tired of getting hurt.

I’m sure Floyd’s lip, split in two places, was barking at him. I’m sure he was pissed off and decided to make Ortiz pay for his sudden desire to see world peace spread only seconds after ramming Floyd’s mouth with his forehead. I can understand why Floyd would be pissed. Why are you trying to keep hugging me and kissing me right after you just split my lip open?

When you see someone blatantly trying to butt, then trying to apologize for as long as he possibly can just to keep more right hands from bashing his face in, then not even trying to fight after getting hit with what he thinks is an unfair punch AND THEN NOT EVEN ANGRY AFTER THE FIGHT IS CALLED OFF, you get the impression that that dude was mentally checked out of the fight.

You know what, I’m starting to sound like a Floyd apologist. All that said, Floyd totally screwed the fans watching the fight. I would have really enjoyed watching him take Ortiz apart for a few more rounds. I’m sure that both Floyd and Boxing as a sport will lose fans and suffer after yet another unsatisfying end to a super fight. Honestly, I’m a lot less of a Mayweather fan today than I was on Friday. I still say that what he did was totally legal AND that Ortiz had mentally checked out of the fight.

No matter how classless Ortiz’ or Floyd’s actions might have been, I thought Larry Merchant was more classless. Floyd did not break the rules, so I can’t see treating him with such disrespect if you are supposed to (at least officially) be a journalist. Floyd was obviously upset with how he was being treated, but he didn’t threaten Larry. He expressed his opinion that Merchant wasn’t being fair to him and suggested that he interview Victor Ortiz, because he was done talking and wouldn’t do any future interviews with him. What about that required a journalist to threaten to fight him? Let’s look at it fairly. Larry Merchant is speaking from a protected place, because he can be as aggressive to Floyd as he wants and Floyd really can’t respond in kind due to his interviewers advanced age. Let’s also be honest, even if Larry was 50 years younger, he couldn’t land a punch of Floyd and I doubt he’d try, former fighter or not.

…but, that’s just my opinion. What do I know?