By Keith Idec
Dan Goossen is ecstatic about Josesito Lopez’s career-changing win against Victor Ortiz.
As much as he has enjoyed fight fans and boxing media praising his fighter since Saturday night, Lopez’s co-promoter still has some sympathy for the ostracized Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KOs). The polarizing southpaw had a broken jaw and a mouthful of blood when he decided not to continue following the ninth round against Lopez (30-4, 18 KOs, 1 NC), but he has been lambasted because it marked the second time in three years the former welterweight champion “quit” in a fight.
Based on the severity of Ortiz’s injury, which required the insertion of a titanium plate and three screws during surgery Monday, Goossen doesn’t think that’s necessarily fair.
“This is a cruel business,” Goossen said. “In MMA, you tap out and you’re applauded. In boxing, you try to do it and you’re in the public’s scorn. There’s a different standard for professional fighters. It’s something that I think is unfair, but it’s just the way it is.
“It’s tough to go out there and fight with a broken jaw, although we’ve had great ones do it in the past, including Ali, when he fought Ken Norton. I also remember Arthur Abraham doing it against Edison Miranda. [Quitting is] certainly understandable, but in boxing no one likes to see anyone tap out.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com.