So another Floyd Mayweather fight has come and gone and yet again Floyd Mayweather emerges as public enemy number one, not to mention the top trending topic on twitter.
Yet again he is the name on everyone’s lips.
Unfortunately for Mayweather, not a lot of it is complementary.
The internet was awash yesterday with people calling Mayweather “unprofessional”, “unsportsmanlike”, and universally a “dirty” fighter.
But for all these people commenting, I wonder how many of these people actually watched the fight, and not just passed judgement from a thirty second clip they saw on the news.
If they had of watched the fight they would have seen Mayweather dissect Victor Ortiz for four rounds, despite Mayweather having spent the last two years away from the ring.
It was a victory so emphatic, many were left scratching their heads wondering if Ortiz had even landed a punch, and whilst doubts remained over Ortiz’s accuracy with his fists, there was no doubt that Victor Ortiz connected with his head.
I said on radio before the fight that I had concerns over Ortiz’s mental toughness, given Ortiz quit mid fight against Marcos Maidana despite having knocked the Argentine down three times.
Concerns were raised again pre fight when it emerged Ortiz had asked for a day off from training, a week out from the fight, so he could go fishing.
This lack of mental toughness came out again yesterday for all to see. Despite having Mayweather trapped against the ropes, Ortiz was unable to land a blow. Try as he might, Ortiz was swinging, yet Mayweather was dodging, weaving and laughing.
A mixture of frustration and anger towards Mayweather’s arrogance came to the fore and Ortiz launched himself headfirst into Mayweather’s chin.
It was a blatant head butt, and Ortiz didn’t even try to disguise it. If he did, rule out a career in Hollywood for when he decides to hang up the gloves.
Head butts happen quite often in boxing, particularly when a Southpaw like Ortiz is in there with an Orthodox fighter like Mayweather, or when fighters are fighting out of a clinch. These types of head butts are strictly accidental.
What Ortiz did was petulant and violent.
He apologised straight away, and had a point deducted....so all should be forgiven right?
If you were out on the town and someone came up and head butted you, only to say sorry, do you immediately accept their apology despite the blood pouring from your messed up face?
Or do you do exactly the same thing Floyd did?
The only reason the way the fight finished is controversial is because Floyd Mayweather was involved.
I’m sure if Manny Pacquiao had done a similar thing, we wouldn’t even be talking about it. It would have been seen as an accepted response to the head butt, as most boxing people have accepted Floyd’s actions as.
Floyd Mayweather didn’t break any rules. There has been talk that referee Joe Cortez should have penalised Floyd for punching when called to break. But Joe Cortez never called a break, as the fighters were never in a clinch, so all is fair in love and war. Victor Ortiz is guilty of breaking the first rule of boxing, “protect yourself at all times”.
There is an old saying that “controversy creates cash”, and it’s the very reason that Mayweather is the most watched man in Boxing history.
So whilst the world keeps hating, Floyd Mayweather will be sitting in his Las Vegas Mansion counting the millions, unperturbed by the fact several million have joined the campaign trail to see the fighter receive his just deserts.
The funny thing is that these millions of fans wanting to see Mayweather fall, they will all buy his next pay per view.
So as Floyd Mayweather adds another name to his glistening record of 42 and 0, whether he intended to or not he’s added another zero to his next pay packet and at the end of the day for Floyd “Money” Mayweather, that’s all that matters.
