By Cliff Rold
It can get better than Saturday night but it might be too much to sanely ask for.
25-year old Jr. Welterweight Marcos Maidana (26-1, 25 KO) put on a display of guts, professionalism, and punching power to upend the hoped for star train of 22-year old Victor Ortiz (24-2-1, 19 KO). Not shockingly, given the hype in the States, most of the day-after coverage has focused on Southern California’s Ortiz. Given the nature of the bout, the focus belongs on the Argentine in the opposite corner.
Dropped three times in the first two rounds, and outboxed in the two following frames, Maidana could easily have been forgiven had he folded. He did not. After a tongue lashing in his corner prior to the fifth, he found the fighter inside himself and started throwing right hands like there was no tomorrow.
He refused surrender.
His opponent did not.
Let’s go to the report card.
Grades
Speed – Pre-Fight: Ortiz B+; Maidana B-/Post-Fight: Same
Power – Pre-Fight: Ortiz B+; Maidana B+/Post-Fight: Same
Defense – Pre-Fight: Ortiz B; Maidana B-/Post-Fight: Maidana C+; Ortiz C+
Intangibles – Pre-Fight: Ortiz B; Maidana B/Post-Fight: Maidana A; Ortiz C
The match up played out close to as predicted in the pre-fight report card but with wrinkles which allowed it to exceed the violence believed possible. Ortiz was faster than Maidana, the more technically refined of the two, and it showed early on. His right hook was crisp, accurate and hard enough to repeatedly drop a Maidana who’d only seen the canvas once before in his career.
If anything, Maidana looked a smidge slower than initially expected. His right hand was well timed when he was working it but if there was a sound effect to describe each man’s blow’s, Ortiz’s were ‘Thwack!’ and Maidana’s ‘Boom!’ Maidana seemed to waver in the middle portion of what ended up a six-round bout but he renewed his faith in ‘Boom!’ and it paid off.
It wasn’t an edge in power which necessarily did it for Maidana. As noted in the pre-fight report card:
It’s hard to say which man holds the power advantage. While Maidana has faced the best single foe, Ortiz may have faced a slightly better overall quality of opposition but it is close. They’ve both seen their share of stiffs and faded names with recent surges up in level of opposition. It’s called moving from promising prospect to contender; no surprises there.
With five knockdowns in the bout, both men proved they could bang. Maidana won with will which is a concept to be returned to.
After all, Maidana certainly did not win with defense. Neither man was going Benny Leonard at ring center. As also noted in the pre-fight report card, this fight promised to be about, “the joy of seeing two young fighters whose physical primes are evident to the eye, both at the peak of their professional hunger.” At its inception, HBO’s Boxing After Dark (B.A.D.) did a lot of fights like Saturday’s and defense was never the forte of those bouts either. Too much youth, too much testosterone, meant too little defense and underground classics like David Tua-Ike Ibeabuchi and Arturo Gatti versus the world.
What defense could be found this weekend was in what could be called stalling tactics. Ortiz showed off what can be effective head movement but it wasn’t used to set up counters or control pace. The best head movement was used when hurt and looking to get away. There was lots of grappling, holding, and roughhousing inside from Maidana to try to stem the Ortiz tide when the bout was going against him but not exactly blocking and parrying.
It made for a grand theater so the low defense grades can be considered a sort of compliment in such a context.
Ultimately it was the intangibles he man brought to the ring which determined outcome. Going in, those were hard to measure. Maidana had lost to the best fighter he’d ever faced, narrowly dropping a decision for the WBA 140 lb. belt to Andriy Kotelnik earlier this year. He’d fought well but it was still a loss and rating a fighter off a loss is tricky.
Ortiz conversely had shown some solid stuff in coming off the floor a couple of times to score knockouts against lesser foes. However, the foes (most recently a long ago exhausted Dario Esalas) offered little resistance when he got up. It couldn’t be known yet what would happen if he was forced to get up against someone who could match his youth and fire.
We found out new things about both men Saturday and what was discovered about Maidana should thrill any fan of an increasingly compelling Jr. Welterweight class. Maidana wasn’t as hurt in the first round as he was in the second and make no mistake; those final thirty seconds in round two could have spelled disaster. His reaction was compelling and nasty.
His holding may not have been the sweet science version of defense but it led a psychological insight to the fight. In close, he never failed to use his free hand to hit whatever he could find, legal or illegal as shown in a lot of clubbing punches and forearms to the back of the head. Ortiz used the same tactic but not as regularly.
The insight was in how each man responded. Maidana took anything foul with no change in demeanor. Ortiz grew frustrated and made sure to complain to the official. He was right to do so but it said in body language one man was in a fight while the other might be expecting a little too much of a more refined athletic endeavor. Maidana was coming into the Ortiz fight off a loss and the sport doesn’t provide the calendar it used to. Consecutive losses can be a steep obstacle and he was willing to do whatever it took to overcome. Rule infractions are not to be encouraged but those willing to commit those deemed less egregious (i.e. those things which do not involve teeth, body slams, or too many cup shots) have often been admired.
The best Mike Tyson was never averse to a forearm to the throat; Roberto Duran has often been referred to as having educated ‘elbows.’ All viewers can respect the art of boxing but it the savagery of fighting which has kept the turnstiles fresh for generations. Most other things being equal, the athletic sportsman is at a disadvantage when confronted with a fighter in deep waters.
Maidana got off the floor and kept himself viable until he could find a way to change the direction of the bout and deserves every kudo for being flat out more man, with less in terms of technique and overall physical gifts, in his U.S. debut.
Ortiz started off well but something was learned from him as well. It was known he could get off the floor and win but what was not known was what would, or could, happen in a fight where he was forced into an escalation after everyone ate the canvas.
What would happen if overcoming adversity meant more adversity?
He performed admirably after his own hard fall in the first, battling back before round’s end and almost closing the matter in the second.
When he did not close out, and Maidana found another gear with shots that opened up Ortiz’s right eyebrow and nearly closed his left eye as well in the fifth, Ortiz was forced to rely on instinct. It appeared the instinct was to head for the exits.
The post-fight discussions, made in the heat of the moment or not, graphically drove the point home and could be discouraging for anyone looking to invest their time as fans in an Ortiz drive to stardom. Paraphrasing, Ortiz stated he needed to go home and think; that he didn’t know if he needed to be taking so much punishment and that he wanted to be able to talk when he got older. What was alarming is that he didn’t sound like he was talking about just the Maidana fight.
He sounded like someone questioning the demands of his line of work.
He’s only 22 now, young and still creating the investments which mark adult life and what he’s willing to sacrifice for material gain. If he’s that realistic about his line of work now, how much easier could it be to surrender as he gets older? It’s a tough question and one which won’t be answered until the drums of war surround him again.
For a complete recap of the in-rind action, check out Jake Donovan’s excellent coverage at https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=20710
Going Forward
Obviously, because he is so young and clearly talented, Ortiz will be back. His handlers at Golden Boy Promotions have plenty of TV and off-TV time to offer. Question marks raised aside, Saturday was a fantastic fight and Ortiz was one half of the reason why. He will get another chance and there is no reason for anyone not to want to watch. Surrender in a fight like Saturday’s is worth any ten Heavyweight bouts which go the route in today’s game.
The man who most certainly should be back is Maidana. In two fights broadly available to U.S. audiences in 2009, he has delivered two damn good fights and can only improve. A rematch with Kotelnik (31-2-1, 13 KO) could be good if Kotelnik gets past Britain’s Amir Khan (20-1, 15 KO) in July. On Saturday, Maidana won the interim WBA title, a ridiculous distinction considering he just lost in a shot at that belt, but it sets up an opportunity. It would probably be less likely should Khan win. Khan’s shaky chin and gate strength overseas would logically mean looking for someone other than Maidana.
Fight fans can hope for something else which might be better anyways. On August 1, the best fighter in the division not named Manny Pacquiao has signed on for a stiff test. WBO titlist Timothy Bradley (24-0, 11 KO) will defend against former multi-belted Lightweight titlist Nate Campbell (33-5-1, 25 KO). Bradley came off the floor in his last bout to beat Kendall Holt in what allowed a temporary and since aborted unification of the WBC and WBO straps. Campbell has been through wars good and bad to find a late career peak. Bradley-Campbell will be a good fight.
Maidana versus the winner could be a great one, worthy of another B.A.D. or Showtime spotlight. Ortiz came into Saturday being groomed for future main events. Maidana earned future main events on Saturday and one versus the Bradley-Campbell winner would be a treat for all.
Report Card Pick Results for the first half of 2009: 10-5
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com