By Michael Marley
MASHANTUCKET, Connecticut - Victor Ortiz won a unanimous decision over Andre Berto in a bout where many thought he would never make it to the final bell. Instead, the fight was battle of power punches as both men went down twice and the fight became a serious contender for "Fight of The Year" honors.
Ortiz and his team and his promoter, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, could've easily been nasty winners after stripping Berto of his prized WBC welterweight title.
But they weren't.
The only person who took real verbal blows was Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who on the same night was in Puerto Rico watching his undefeated Juan Manuel Lopez getting hsocked by Orlando Salido.
"Arum criticized it, saying it shows that we and HBO don't know what we're doing, that we make bad matches, and all this fight did was finish as a true "Fight of the Year" candidate," Schaefer said.
"He really shut up, he really silenced all his boxing critics. But there's so much more to his story, to survive all he did as a child and to rise above it all to give this kind of performance. It is a feel good story. After the (Marcos) Maidana fight, so many branded Victor a quitter. I'm happy for our company, and for HBO, but more than anything else, tonight I am happy for Victor Ortiz."