It has been over two weeks since the worst boxing match I have ever had the disdain to lay my eyes on occured. Circus, spectacle, debacle, whatever you want to call it, it was a complete waste of precious minutes of my life. For those of you hiding under a rock, I am talking about Mayweather-Ortiz.
I have always had my doubts about the purity of the sport of boxing, especially of late. MMA and UFC are making quite a name for themselves. There are insane amounts of money to be made in boxing and since the sport has been dying for years, those involved will do ANYTHING to keep it around. Las Vegas, also known as “The Boxing Capital of the World” has had a rough time in this recent recession, the money that is made when a high profile match takes place at MGM Grand can be quite a stimulus package.
On paper Floyd Mayweather has an impressive record. 42-0 whatever way you want to slice it, is impressive. One would also argue that there hasn’t been much quality competition for Mayweather in years. Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez, Sugar Shane Mosley, and most recently Victor Ortiz were his most recent fights. To say Mosley and De La Hoya were out of their prime when they fought Mayweather would be an understatement. Ricky Hatton had no business fighting Mayweather, if you have to ask why, don’t bother continuing on. Marquez, forever chasing the big fight moved up a weight class to fight Mayweather. Mayweather weighed in two pounds over his contracted weight, once again, completely mismatched, but hey, it’s not about watching a good evenly matched fight, it is only about the money. Then we have Victor Ortiz. On paper, it looked as though the 24-year-old might have a chance against Mayweather. And he may have, if the fight wasn’t fixed.
The set up of the Mayweather-Ortiz fight stood to benefit both parties. Big payday on both sides, with the opportunity of a rematch for a larger payday. Exposure for both parties, and even more of the public desire for a Pacquaio-Mayweather match-up. Why do I think it was fixed? The question is, there isn’t much to prove to me it wasn’t.
The fight didn’t begin as a three ring circus, but sure as well ended as one. Mayweather easily won round one and two. Round three, Mayweather looked strong, but Ortiz began to show signs of life. Ortiz had Mayweather against the ropes and was swinging away, then suddenly stopped, gave Mayweather a break and started hitting him again. Last time I checked, if you have a chance to take someone out, you do it. Not in this case, Ortiz didn’t want to hurt Mayweather too much, the fight is supposed to end in the fourth.Then came the head butt I actually had to strain to see. Ortiz apologizes twice, not once and gives Mayweather a hug. Yes, a hug, last time I checked this was boxing, not an episode of Big Brother. Referee Joe Cortez penalized Ortiz a point, then Ortiz claims he had no idea that Cortez never signaled to resume fighting. Cortez looks the other way, at what, who knows. Everything went according to plan, Mayweather walks up to Ortiz sucker punches him and the fight is over. Ortiz barely looked dazed, but had no intentions of getting up. Mayweather remains undefeated and Ortiz will receive more notoriety and an even bigger payday in the rematch. Even Mayweather’s fiance was well aware of the fix:
EXCLUSIVE: Floyd Mayweather’s Fiancee Knew Mayweather/Ortiz Fight Was Fixed, Places Bet That It Would End In 4th Round
80-year-old TV analyst, Larry Merchant knew something was off and called Mayweather out on the legal “cheap shot”. In classless Mayweather form, he verbally attacks Merchant. How dare anyone ever doubt his moral compass?
The next day, Victor Ortiz is all smiles living it up in Vegas. I guess everyone deals with losing differently, but Ortiz didn’t seem to look fazed at all. A few days later, Ortiz takes to twitter, suddenly not okay with the outcome of the fight. I smell a rematch. A rematch I won’t be watching. I can tune into some trashy reality program if I want to watch something scripted.
I know the sport of boxing has been dead for quite sometime, but this fight sealed the deal for me. I guess I will have to watch classic boxing matches to get my fix.
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