More dirt on the controversial Mayweather vs Ortiz fight
On a daily basis, more and more information is being learned about this controversial fight that brought in the mega bucks. It now appears if you’re ever going to see a decent fight, you should stay away from these so-called extravaganzas, especially if they’re going to cost you an arm and a leg. After pricing this fight at $59.95, what’s next? $99.95
Lately, fight fans have spent countless millions on some really lousy boxing shows. Joshua Clottey versus Manny Pacquiao, Sugar Shame Mosley versus Pacquiao, Vitali Klitschko versus Tomasz Adamek and now this Ortiz versus Mayweather Jr. fiasco.
Actor/comedian Kevin Hart and comedian Paul Rodriguez hosted the weigh-in for the fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Victor Ortiz at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Believe me, I’m not trying to beat a dead horse, but if anyone, even the President of the United States were to make a serious comment about this fight, I’m going to pass it along. Following in the proper line of succession from President Obama, we have the President of Ultimate Fighting Championships (the UFC), Dana White. White offered the following comments in an interview with J. Yayo Hernandez of the website Cagejunkies.com.
On referee Joe Cortez’s handling of the Mayweather-Ortiz fight:
“Let me start it off by saying: I laid money on Ortiz. And I’ll tell you, Ortiz started head-butting from the first round, right? Rubbing his head in [Mayweather’s] face, then the most intentional head-butt you’ll ever see, and the dirtiest thing you can do in boxing is head-butt another guy.
Who's leaning in? Victor Ortiz's head went at Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s face as if here were a middle linebacker trying to take a quarterback's head off. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
He head-butts him, then the referee doesn’t send the guys to a neutral corner; he actually let’s [Ortiz] approach him and hug him … like that’s the last thing Mayweather wants is [Ortiz] in his face after he just head-butted him. [Cortez] doesn’t even know (that with) an intentional foul, you take two points, not one. What you’re supposed to do is send a guy to the neutral corner, have the doctor come in and check Mayweather to see if he’s okay, and let’s assume he is – Mayweather says, ‘Yes, I can continue.’ The doctor says yes. So the ref goes to the center of the ring and says, ‘I’m taking two points,’ then walks to Ortiz and says, ‘That’s two points. If you do it again, you’re going to be disqualified.’
President of the UFC, Dana White
Then he goes back to the center of the ring and says, ‘Let’s fight.’ He didn’t do any of that. So then after the [foul], he says, ‘Let’s go. Let’s go.’ I guess he said it three times. And Ortiz comes to hug him again, after he’s already said sorry 50 times, and Floyd hit him.”
On Floyd “Money” Mayweather ’s actions in the fight:
“Nothing’s dirtier than a head-butt, and everybody in boxing knows that. A ref is in there to make sure that stuff doesn’t happen. However, Mayweather tried to strangle Ortiz at the weigh-in, and nobody stepped in.”
On the importance of having a good referee for the Velasquez vs Dos Santos fight:
“This would be a great opportunity for me to step up on the soapbox and go, ‘Boxing shot itself in the foot, again!’ It had nothing to do with boxing, had nothing to do with the sport of boxing. It had to do with the officiating. And let me tell you: Think about my position now. I’m about to go on FOX on Nov. 12 for our first big MMA event on free TV. I don’t want some referee that doesn’t know what he’s doing blowing my big night. I don’t care who they put in there as long as he doesn’t blow a multi-million-dollar fight and a huge opportunity for the sport.”
Talking about people's perception, why were these gents so happy. Boxer Victor Ortiz (R) and his manager Rolando Arellano arrive at post-fight party at Studio 54 inside the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
In other words, Mr. White is telling us that he’s more concerned about the public’s perception of his sport than the people now promoting boxing. He will not tollerate an official that does a sloppy job.
After checking some of the footage from Victor Ortiz’s past fights, we soon discover that he has a history of being a dirty fighter. He’s done the very same thing that Mayweather Jr. did on Saturday night. He hit someone on the break and knocked them out. In the post-fight press conference on Saturday, he tried to lie about how the head-butting incident occurred. “Both his head and mine were coming forward.” Then he admitted, “It was in the heat of the moment.” In his opinion, “It wasn’t a fair fight.” Everything was “Kinda cool…kinda unfair…kinda controversial…and then back to “kinda unfair.” His use of the elbow and his head-butting attempts, they were blatant attempts of a MMA brawler, not a boxer. Check out this footage and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
