By Mitch Abramson
While most of the boxing world has been fixated on the HBO docu-series, 24/7, Victor Ortiz isn’t one of them. Ortiz admitted that he has no interest in watching the show to hype his Sept. 17 bout with Floyd Mayweather for his WBC welterweight title, even going so far as to leave his home while his friends watched the premier episode this past Saturday. It seems that Ortiz doesn't want to run the risk of hearing Mayweather constantly bad mouth him on the episodes.
“I didn’t watch the 24/7,” Ortiz said. “It was just something where I was having such a good day that I didn’t really feel like hearing a little kid running his mouth, so I was like, I’d rather not waste my time listening to some kind of negative stuff coming my way. I took it for what it was and just enjoyed my day,” he went on. “It was a great evening; the sunset was coming in pretty nice. I was outside lounging. Some of my friends were coming over and they watched the 24/7 episode. And I was like, ‘Okay guys, enjoy your time. I’m going to go outside.”
Ortiz, who starred in it, splitting time with Mayweather, missed a moving portrayal of his difficult upbringing, and a near fight that almost escalated between Floyd Jr. and Sr. at the Mayweather gym in Las Vegas. Mayweather didn’t spend the first episode taking aim at Ortiz (if my memory serves correct), but that could change in future shows.
Ortiz said he did plan on watching some episodes after “ending the streak,” a referencing to handing Mayweather the first loss of his career on Sept. 17.
“I’m sure I’ll sit back- I’ll need something to do,” Ortiz said. “So that will probably be on my to-do list.”
Though he doesn’t plan on watching it before his fight, that doesn’t mean that Ortiz has been inconvenienced by having the HBO cameras constantly around.
“The crews are actually great,” Ortiz said. “The guys are super awesome. I’ve actually thrown a cookout for them a couple times now, so we hang out like friends do. We’ve connected well and bonded well with each other since day one, so them being around with the cameras is just them holding cameras- nothing more, nothing less. I enjoy it. I’m not a bitter person and I can appreciate an opportunity like this.”
Mitch Abramson covers the boxing scene for the New York Daily News and BoxingScene.com.