T Nation

Mayweather vs. Ortiz

Combat
#1

Anyone catch the press conference on UStream? Action heated up a bit today, Mayweather quote to Ortiz “I’m not gonna box you, I’m not gonna run, I’m coming to fight toe to toe in the middle of the ring”. Ortiz did a good job hyping it up as well. Best part was at the end, Mayweather looked right at the camera and said “Pacquiao your NEXT!”

Seems like it can turn out to be a good fight. It’s becoming more obvious Ortiz is a tune up for Pacquiao, but I really hope May doesn’t over look Ortiz. I will say If Ortiz hits Money like Mosley did in the 2nd rd…Mayweather will go down! Im still pickin my boy P4P King Floyd Money Mayweather!

Who do you got?

#2

Money all the way. Reminds me of when Floyd called Arturo Gatti nothing but a club fighter, and said he would hurt Gatti. Then he preceded to whoop Arturo’s ass in the middle of the ring for 5 or so rounds.
Ortiz is younger and faster than Gatti was at the time, so Floyd better not overlook him like I believe Berto did.

#3

I think it’ll be like his fight with Hatton but without a stoppage. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mayweather only loses one round. This fight is just another fight of little significance, the only thing that interests me is a welterweight champion fighting another welterweight on PPV for a title without them coming off of a tuneup fight, loss, or it being a fighter coming up a division or two.

I think Mayweather and Pacquiao use each other purely for promotional purposes. Mayweather will say Pacquiao is next and then when he doesn’t fight him it’ll just be the same story of “I don’t need Pacquiao to make 40 million dollars” just like Pacquiao will say “my legacy is complete without Mayweather”. There’s nothing to suggest the fight is any closer to happening than when it’s first announced two years ago.

#4

[quote]fnf wrote:
Money all the way. I believe when Floyd called Arturo Gatti nothing but a club fighter, Floyd said he would hurt him. Then he preceded to whoop Arturo’s ass in the middle of the ring for 5 or so rounds.
Ortiz is younger and faster than Gatti was at the time, so Floyd better not overlook him like I believe Berto did.[/quote]

Berto “overlooked” Ortiz just like Ortiz was “on something”. Personally, I think Berto was and is a protected fighter that’s imposed on boxing fans by a promoter and network in an attempt to create a star that just simply didn’t have what it would take. The thing welterweight division never made Berto an A fighter by default, he’s a B fighter.

Mayweather is nothing like Berto, Berto at times just put his back to the ropes and gave up rounds against Ortiz. The Berto fight for Ortiz is about as meaningful as the Margarito fight was for Mosley when going into a fight with Mayweather. This is just a very marketable in-house fight for Golden Boy Promotions to put on.

#5

[quote]goldengloves wrote:
I think it’ll be like his fight with Hatton but without a stoppage.

I imagine the same but WITH a late round stoppage. I can see Ortiz getting frustrated and overwhelmed, leading to him getting drained and worn out.

#6

After Mayweather’s bit on Pacquiao, Ortiz is quoted as saying “There’s only on problem. I’M fighting Manny Pacquiao next”. The funny thing is, there’s a good chance that Ortiz will be entirely correct. He’ll lose to Mayweather, Money will slip off into retirement, and Pacman will have a run at beating Victor better.

Having said this, I am looking forward to this fight. Whereas I think Money handles him in a competetive but ultimately one sided fight, this will answer some of my questions about how Floyd handles a gunslinging southpaw. And we’ll get to see how the man handles another long layoff/advancing age.

#7

Go to 8:30 , that’s when Ortiz begins his somewhat rambling monologue, even though there is a slight pop at the end.

#8
#9

Mayweather seems to be trying to take his image in a different direction. He has been pretty humble and saying the “right things” at both press conferences.

And the Press conference in LA was more entertaining, Ortiz grows a pair and tries to take it over…I’ll see if I can find it and post it later

#10

[quote]cutthoat25 wrote:

[quote]goldengloves wrote:
I think it’ll be like his fight with Hatton but without a stoppage.

I imagine the same but WITH a late round stoppage. I can see Ortiz getting frustrated and overwhelmed, leading to him getting drained and worn out.
[/quote]

If Mayweather hit like he used to I would agree with you.

#11

May at welter doesn’t hit anywhere near as hard as he does at lightweight. But still, it’s enough to keep guys off him so it do what it does…

#12

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
May at welter doesn’t hit anywhere near as hard as he does at lightweight. But still, it’s enough to keep guys off him so it do what it does…[/quote]

I’m not saying he’s an amateur style but he does really only have the intentions of landing a scoring blow rather than a punch. It could be his hand problems or just reaching the pinnacle of his economical approach to boxing but he really does choose not to go for stoppages and land punches really only mean to score.

His jab is still where it’s always been but he’s not exactly Sonny Liston so I don’t expect someone to be rattled too badly by it anytime soon.

#13

[quote]goldengloves wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
May at welter doesn’t hit anywhere near as hard as he does at lightweight. But still, it’s enough to keep guys off him so it do what it does…[/quote]

I’m not saying he’s an amateur style but he does really only have the intentions of landing a scoring blow rather than a punch. It could be his hand problems or just reaching the pinnacle of his economical approach to boxing but he really does choose not to go for stoppages and land punches really only mean to score.

His jab is still where it’s always been but he’s not exactly Sonny Liston so I don’t expect someone to be rattled too badly by it anytime soon.[/quote]

I agree with you guys to a degree…his last fight against Mosley would say different. While a person w/ Ortiz power may have stopped Mosley, Mayweather did “rattle” Mosley more than once and chose not to follow up. Also remember Mosley has a fantastic chin, so maybe another man might have gone down in that fight. But I agree Mayweather usually doesn’t try to KO anyone.

#14

[quote]cutthoat25 wrote:

[quote]goldengloves wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
May at welter doesn’t hit anywhere near as hard as he does at lightweight. But still, it’s enough to keep guys off him so it do what it does…[/quote]

I’m not saying he’s an amateur style but he does really only have the intentions of landing a scoring blow rather than a punch. It could be his hand problems or just reaching the pinnacle of his economical approach to boxing but he really does choose not to go for stoppages and land punches really only mean to score.

His jab is still where it’s always been but he’s not exactly Sonny Liston so I don’t expect someone to be rattled too badly by it anytime soon.[/quote]

I agree with you guys to a degree…his last fight against Mosley would say different. While a person w/ Ortiz power may have stopped Mosley, Mayweather did “rattle” Mosley more than once and chose not to follow up. Also remember Mosley has a fantastic chin, so maybe another man might have gone down in that fight. But I agree Mayweather usually doesn’t try to KO anyone.
[/quote]

Agree with this. I’m not sure whether it’s the fact that May is growing into a “true” welter or whether he was out to prove his power to the public, but he did more than tap at Mosley in that fight (which is why I was predicting possible flash knockdowns for Mayweather in this fight).