By Cliff Rold
In a bold move, presumably with a mega-fight for the age$ still possible with Manny Pacquiao, lineal World Welterweight Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. is taking on a much younger, slightly bigger, legitimately dangerous foe. Mayweather has often been accused of being safe in his opponent choices, but for the second fight in a row (no matter his inactivity) he has opted for the next toughest man in class while the toughest, and he, make excuses to not fight each other and laugh all the way to the bank.
Saturday is no laughing matter.
He is Mayweather. He is the favorite. He always is and for good reason. But this weekend? This weekend he is pitted against the most live ‘dog he’s seen in years.
Does it matter?
Let’s go the report card.
The Ledgers
Floyd Mayweather
Age: 34
Titles: Lineal World Welterweight Champion (2010-Present, 1st Attempted Defense)
Previous Titles: Lineal/WBC Jr. Lightweight (1998-2002, 8 Defenses); Lineal/Ring/WBC Lightweight (2002-04, 3 Defenses); WBC Jr. Welterweight (2005); IBF Welterweight (2006); Lineal/Ring/WBC Welterweight (2006-08, 1 Defense); WBC Jr. Middleweight (2007)
Height: 5’8
Weight: 146.5 lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 147 lbs.
Hails from: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Record: 41-0, 25 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 19-0, 9 KO including lineal title contests
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 15 (Genaro Hernandez, Gregorio Vargas, Diego Corrales, Carlos Hernandez, Jesus Chavez, Jose Luis Castillo, DeMarcus Corley, Arturo Gatti, Sharmba Mitchell, Zab Judah, Carlos Baldomir, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley)
Vs.
Victor Ortiz
Age: 24
Title/Previous Titles: WBC Welterweight (2011-Present, 1st Attempted Defense)
Height: 5’9
Weight: 147 lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 142.55 lbs.
Hails from: Oxnard, California
Record: 29-2-2, 22 KO
BoxingScene Rank: #2
Record in Major Title Fights: 1-0 (1-1, 1 KOBY including interim title fights)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 5 (Alfred Kotey, Carlos Maussa, Nate Campbell, Vivian Harris, Andre Berto)
Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Mayweather A+; Ortiz B+
Pre-Fight: Power – Mayweather B; Ortiz B+
Pre-Fight: Defense – Mayweather A+; Ortiz B-
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Mayweather A; Ortiz A
Ortiz, just one year ago, would have been hard to fathom as an opponent for Mayweather. There were questions about his focus, his heart, and whether a war with Marcos Maidana had made him gun shy. Those questions are mute for now.
That’s how good a night Ortiz had in April versus Andre Berto.
Looking more fresh and firmer at Welterweight, Ortiz traded knockdowns with Berto while winning the bulk of the rounds and capturing his first major title. An old adage in boxing is that, sometimes, being a champ makes a fighter better. Ortiz needs that to be true and then some here. Berto is no Mayweather.
Unfortunately, maybe, the third man in the ring is probably who he has been in recent vintage.
The assignment of the almost 70-year old Joe Cortez as referee for Saturday’s night mega-fight elicited a groan from many. Was that wrong? Anyone who saw his constant breaking of contests like Ricky Hatton-Floyd Mayweather and, in the late rounds, Amir Khan-Marcos Maidana in recent years, as just a couple of examples, might say no.
Joe Cortez is in the Hall of Fame as a referee.
Whether he can still perform at, or even really near, that standard is just one of many x-factors heading into this weekend’s superfight. It’s an important one though. If Ortiz can get to Mayweather, he can hurt him. Keeping him hurt could depend in part on how the fight is officiated.
Ortiz will have to try to finish in a disciplined manner. Maidana did not against Khan and his willingness to swing at anything brought warnings. If Floyd holds to try and save himself, the question of whether Ortiz is allowed to fight Mayweather off, or be forced to suffer critical breaks in the action, is significant. Cortez’s work appeared to favor the holder over the hitter in the two fights mentioned, though, in the case of Mayweather-Hatton, Hatton left plenty to be penalized regardless.
How Cortez officiates in regard to Mayweather’s liberal use of elbows could also be a factor.
None of those are likely to be the biggest. Ortiz has to worry about Floyd first and a face-first, often off-balance attack could spell trouble. Ortiz can be wide open in exchanges and, when he has a man hurt, forgets to duck. Mayweather is one of the most accurate fighters in the game. He will exploit openings.
Mayweather is also one of the meanest. He never gets enough credit for it. Many of his peers engage in the ridiculous practice of glove tapping all night, as if anyone paid to see sportsmanship before the hug after the fight. Mayweather does not. Against Shane Mosley, when Mosley tried to touch gloves, Mayweather hit him the mouth. He did it more than once.
The chip on his shoulder shows in his resolve as well. On the occasions where he’s been stunned, against DeMarcus Corley, Zab Judah, and Shane Mosley, he’s rode the storm and dealt out beatings. Floyd seems edgier for Ortiz than he was for Juan Manuel Marquez or Shane Mosley. Could it be the power puncher has him meaner, and more focused, than usual?
If so, Ortiz has a force to reckon with. Of course, he can be a force himself. Ortiz has underrated speed and, if he paid attention to the Corley and Judah fights, he’ll know lead right hooks could pay dividends. Ortiz doesn’t have to win every round. He just needs to win enough to score a draw or win to keep his belt. A knockdown, maybe two, and he narrows the gap for how many rounds he needs.
The Pick
If the ox-strong Ortiz becomes the first man to drop Mayweather on Saturday, it wouldn’t be a surprise.
If that parlayed into an actual victory, it would.
This fight is interesting for a lot of reasons, most of them outlined above. However, even after showing what depths exist inside himself against Berto, it still appears Mayweather presents something heart and guts can’t always overcome.
Mayweather is just better than Ortiz. Even giving up ten years, and already probably past his pure prime, Mayweather isn’t lying when he calls himself “God gifted.” Ortiz is too. That power doesn’t come from hoping for it. Unfortunately, where God gifted Ortiz with serious power and decent speed, Mayweather has enough pop of his own, plenty of speed, and a whole lot of refinement of those gifts.
The pick here is the safe one. Ortiz should have some big moments early but Mayweather is cool and experienced enough to ride them out. As the fight wears on, his greater accuracy, the potential for an overly officious Joe Cortez, temperament, and just plain superior ring IQ add up to a Mayweather victory by late stoppage or decision.
Report Card Picks 2011: 29-11
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com