There was only one world that came to mind and can be attached to the fight at the end of the night: unfortunate.
It was unfortunate that Victor Ortiz had to try to accidentally throw an intentional head butt to gain an advantage in the fight. It was unfortunate that Ortiz's lack of big fight experience and overly sportsmanlike conduct ultimately lead to his demise. It was extremely unfortunate that Floyd Mayweather took advantage of a perfectly fair situation to win the fight. But most of all, it was unfortunate that the fight was decided by an act of opportunism rather than fair play.
For three and a half rounds boxing fans were treated to a truly great fight. Mayweather/Ortiz had the making of an instant classic (and in some ways it still ended up being that). For the first time, Mayweather seemed he was being out-boxed not by the opponents skill, but by his age. Mayweather, who could as well be in the latter stage of his prime, fought a dangerous young man ten years his junior and was a decorated champion in his own right. Despite what most would have considered disadvantages for Floyd, Floyd was still Floyd. He was accurate, fast, and cocky as usual. Ortiz at no point in the fight looked like he was more experienced than Mayweather, but he did look like he was hungrier. Ortiz fought like there was no tomorrow. He got us interested through the HBO 24/7 episodes by sharing with us his tough upbringing and hard life, but won us over as fans when the bell rang, let his hands go, and went after one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world as if he was fighting for his life.
Victor Ortiz brought it on Saturday night. He didn't quite bring a technically sound arsenal or any big-fight experience, but he did bring a ton of heart. It was just too bad that it didn't mean anything at the end.
Midway through the fourth round we saw a flurry of punches from Ortiz that landed and (from the looks of it) at least stunned Mayweather a little. Mayweather weathered the storm quite well, but before Ortiz withdrew from his combinations and regrouped for the next step of strategically dismantling Mayweather, he decided to lunge forward and connect on Mayweather's chin with a head butt. Yeah. It was no "unintentional" butt either; it was flagrant. Clearly the overwhelming situation of actually having Mayweather on the ropes for a moment was too much for Ortiz to handle that he felt, in order to hammer home the victory, he must commit an illegal act to gain enough of an advantage that will nurse him to the finish line victorious. That, obviously, was the wrong idea. An intentional head butt straight into Mayweather's chin is clearly illegal. But Ortiz committed it anyways and it was so blatant that referee Joe Cortez had to stop the fight momentarily to deal out the proper discipline and penalties on the scorecards. While he was doing this, however, Ortiz was being overly apologetic about his own actions. He instantly corralled Mayweather and even gave him a kiss on the head to try to make good. Floyd didn't really look too fazed by the butt anyways (it only left a small cut on his chin) so let's get ready to keep boxing right? At this point the fight got incredibly interesting. We saw for the first time an incredibly vulnerable Mayweather, and a truly legitimate and worthy opponent in Ortiz. But before the fight can go down as an instant classic and on it's way to becoming one of the best in boxing history, Floyd Mayweather decides he's not having any of the dirty play from Ortiz. So, with referee Cortez's head slightly turned away to give the instructions ringside regarding the point deductions, Ortiz was still adamant on making nice with Mayweather. The coast was clear for more boxing already, but Ortiz didn't think the fight was back in progress yet. And as referee Cortez was still looking to the judges, Mayweather threw a combo - a baby left hook that served as retaliation for the butt, and also as a wake-up call to Ortiz to let him know the fight was back on. The hook stunned Ortiz, but for some reason, instead of actually bringing his hands back up to defend himself, he decided to turn to the referee with a look of "did you just see that?" Clearly Cortez did not. Mayweather, on the other hand, realized Ortiz still had his guard down so, at that point, he only did what he was supposed to do as a prize fighter: punch the guy. Mayweather delivered a straight right that landed right on the button with no resistance from Ortiz and that dropped him to the mat like a ton of bricks. Cortez only partially saw the second punch, but regardless of what most people at the MGM Grand Arena and watching at home on pay-per-view immediately considered to be a cheap shot or sucker punch, it was technically a legal one. Cortez began the count on Ortiz, and seconds later Mayweather got his 42nd win and still remained undefeated. That was the fight.
There were so many things wrong with the bout I don't know where to begin. Most of those things were moral and ethical issues, but some technical as well. I understand Ortiz felt bad about the head butt, but he apologized for it, gave Mayweather a kiss, and that should have been that. After the kiss on Mayweather's head, Ortiz should have got back into his corner, got his guard up, and concentrated on knocking the fuck out of Mayweather. Referee Cortez should have been between the two fighters when he was dealing out disciplinary action and deducting points. He was not, however, and it was literally a split second of non-attention from the ref that allowed Mayweather to pounce and take advantage. And then of course there's Mayweather himself. As HBO commentator Jim Lampley said best, there is no reason why a prize fighter, like Floyd Mayweather, should resort to opportunistic tactics in order to gain an advantage in the fight; especially when Mayweather carries the reputation of successfully and legally defeating all forty-one of his previous opponents. But the wrong didn't stop there. When Mayweather gave his customary post match interview in the ring with legendary boxing analyst and commentator Larry Merchant, he said a few things that he probably should not have said. Blatantly attempting to avoid any questions about "the sucker punch", Floyd very soon got agitated by Merchant and went on a tirade about how Merchant never gave him a fair shake and called him a "piece of shit". Along with that, he also made some derogotive comments about HBO - the company that has co-produced and promoted every Mayweather Productions fight. I think it's clear to say Floyd lost a very good business partner last night, not to mention fans of him, and of boxing in general.
Mayweather did play within the rules on the night of September 17th. He legally knocked Ortiz out, but most people made up their minds immediately after the fight that Floyd committed a dirty play. But, as the rules of boxing clearly emphasize, a fighter must protect themselves at all times. Ortiz wasn't protecting himself at all when he got hit. And if you are going to simply stand there with your guard down, time in, and the ref allowing for action to continue, you're practically giving up the fight. I mean, how much longer was Floyd supposed to wait for the kissing and making-up to finish?
With the events that transpired Saturday night, Mayweather has successfully killed any further interest in a potential mega fight between himself and Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather hasn't completely tarnished his legacy, but his reputation has taken a huge hit. With his offensive comments to Larry Merchant and HBO, it's questionable whether or not he'll have the giant broadcasting company to continue promoting his future fights. And with every fight that is not a Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao fight, boxing fans get a little more frustrated, and by now probably offended. Floyd Mayweather Vs. Manny Pacquiao was supposed to be the fight of this century. After the events of last night, and with Pacquiao scheduled to fight Juan Manuel Marquez for the third time in November, there is really no point any more.
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