By Jake Donovan (photo by Alexis Cuarezma/FightWireImages)

HBO promised a star in the making when arranging for hard-punching Victor Ortiz to headline their June 27 Boxing After Dark telecast.

Ortiz promised to deliver a performance befitting of the enormous amounts of hype that surrounds his career.

Neither lived up to their word by night’s end.

That’s not to say that Ortiz didn’t try his damnest to put some substance behind the shine. The Kansas-born southpaw recovered from an opening round knockdown to score three of his own inside of the first two rounds. It wasn’t enough, as battle-tested Marcos Maidana chipped away with enough right hands to end the fight early in the sixth round of their scheduled 12-round junior welterweight main event.

The bout was aired live on HBO from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and was presented by Golden Boy Promotions.

There was no feeling out session as both fighters looked to make their mark early. Ortiz, who came to the ring to a remix of “Beat It” and “Thriller”, used both titles as the theme for his performance in the early going. The highly touted southpaw patiently stalked behind a high guard, coming in with left hands and right hooks out of the southpaw stance.

Maidana, 140 lb, Buenos Aires, Argentina, was more than willing to engage, but would learn the price of bravery, getting caught with a flurry before being floored by a counter right hook. He recovered about as well as you could possibly ask, coming right back to floor Ortiz seconds later, courtesy of a textbook one-two, the “two” being a beauty of a long right hand.

Ortiz, 139 ¼, Ventura, California by way of Garden City, Kansas, was slow to rise, but managed to punch his way back into the fight, well enough to take the round that was otherwise fought on dead even terms.

With both fighters tasting the other’s power, it would’ve been forgiven if they decided to slow things down in the second. No chance – it was a pure punch out for the duration of the round, with jabs and defense strictly a rumor.

The two fought on relatively even terms before Ortiz busted things wide open in the final minute. A power punching flurry was punctuated by a flush left hook to the chin to drop Maidana with 30 seconds left in the round. Ortiz remained on the attack, cornering the former title challenger and once again sending him to the canvas shortly before the bell.

Much like the jab, momentum was also a scarce commodity in L.A. on this particular evening. Ortiz sought to chin check Maidana early in the third, gauging how much the Argentinean had left in the tank. He turned out to have more than expected, taking the fight to Ortiz in the first half of the round. Ortiz regrouped, punching with intelligence and also occasionally playing defense in the first round of the fight to not feature a knockdown.

Things expectedly slowed down in the fourth, with Ortiz occasionally clinching after his combinations to nullify Maidana’s attack. It was a wise tactic, though also subjected him to an occasional booing from the moderate but vocal crowd on hand. Maidana absorbed less punishment in the round and offered enough offense to arguably take the frame and avoid being completely shut out on the scorecards.

Ortiz wasn’t keen on giving away rounds and erupted in the fifth. The right hook resurfaced with authority, though he was overshooting his left hand enough to draw warnings of rabbit punching from referee Raul Caiz.

Maidana regained his composure and opened up midway through the round, drawing Ortiz into a brawl then catching him with a left hook and then coming back to score two counter right hands. The sequence left Ortiz with a bad cut over his right eye, but the Mexican-American never stopped throwing. What he forgot about was defense, leaving his chin wide open for a booming overhand right towards the end of the round.

Trainer Danny Garcia didn’t like the cut or what he was seeing from Ortiz, threatening to stop the fight if his student didn’t remember to play defense. It was unclear if he meant it or said it as a motivator, but Maidana would soon make his job very easy for him.

Maidana came flying off of the stool, landing a straight right to snap back the head of Ortiz. He couldn’t miss with the right hand, landing enough of them to bruise up his left eye and eventually send him to the canvas.

Ortiz beat the count, but didn’t seem the least bit interested in continuing. Caiz called time to allow the ringside physician to examine him. It was soon determined that the cut was too severe to allow the fighter to continue, though Ortiz didn’t utter a word in protest.

The official time was 0:43 of round six.

It’s sweet redemption for Maidana, who four months after losing a razor-thin decision to current junior welterweight titlist Andreas Kotelnik, scores the biggest win of his five-year career. He improves to 26-1 (25KO) overall with the win, coming in a stateside debut that he will never forget.

“My desire allowed me to continue,” said Maidana of his gutsy performance. “I knew I could get him but I had to be careful. He was making mistakes and I had to take advantage.”

With the win, Maidana inherits a vacant title belt of sorts. He is guaranteed a shot at the winner of next month’s showdown between old adversary Kotelnik and rising star Amir Khan.

Who he gets next is of little importance to him; at least not until he recovers from this fight.

“We’re going to recuperate before worrying about the future. The punches were very hard.”

His opponent had similar praise in regards to the punching power exuded in the fight.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hurt,” Ortiz admitted afterwards in as honest a post-fight interview as you can ask of a fighter who suffered a huge loss in front of an adopted hometown crowd. “It just wasn’t my night.”

It appeared to be his night after recovering from the opening round knockdown, coming back strong to twice floor Maidana in the second. But as the cheers picked up, Ortiz allowed pride to overtake instinct.

“I figured it might be a short night, but he’s an experienced veteran. The crowd got to me, and it’s the first time it’s ever happened to me. I’m usually composed, but something inside of me kept saying, ‘I’m going to knock him out.’

“I fought really dumb. It’s my mistake, nobody else’s, not my coaches.”

The mistake ultimately put an end to his four-year unbeaten streak, in which he went 17-0-1. The streak included ten straight wins by knockout, but it all comes to a close as he falls to 24-2-1 (19KO).

Maidana, on the other hand, fought a much smarter fight, at least during the moments not spent on the canvas.

“I wanted to find him and got caught,” recalled Maidana of the early knockdowns. “He has heavy hands. I was OK, my legs were shaky. He caught me, but I got up.”

And now with the win, he goes up towards the top of a fully replenished junior welterweight division that includes undefeated Tim Bradley, former unified lightweight titlist Nate Campbell, recently dethroned Ricky Hatton and (for the moment) the sport’s biggest attraction in lineal 140 lb. champion and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.

There might come a day when Maidana is fortunate enough to face one or more of the names on that list. For now, his next fight comes against either Kotelnik or Khan. Whoever it is, Maidana has some more winning on his mind.

“It doesn’t matter. We already know Kotelnik . Khan… just isn’t very good.”

The latter remains to be seen, but the boxing world now knows that Maidana is in fact very good. Ortiz will be – and in fact, was – the first to tell you.

“You know what; may the best man win, and tonight he was the best man.”

A lesson that HBO, Victor Ortiz and Golden Boy Promotions were forced to learn the hard way.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .