Unbeaten former five weight world champion Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25KOs) today announced that he will indeed return to the ring this year against WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22KOs), as rumored several weeks ago.
Tweeting to fans earlier today Mayweather said:
“My fans have been waiting long enough. Floyd Mayweather vs Victor Ortiz. Sept-17 2011 for the WBC World Championship.”
Newly crowned Ortiz is fresh from triumphing over previously unbeaten Andre Berto in April, his welterweight debut and a bout which did a lot to repair the credibility Ortiz lost after quitting on his stool against Marcos Maidana two years ago.
In taking on Ortiz, Mayweather faces the consensus number three welterweight behind himself and Manny Pacquiao. *(Ortiz is currently ranked at two by virtue of Mayweather’s year plus of inactivity, but on merit would likely be ranked third)
Aside from Pacquiao and perhaps also Sergio Martinez, Ortiz was the most appealing match up Mayweather could have made.
Manny Pacquiao himself meanwhile will square off with Juan Manuel Marquez for a third time in November, a bout made official several weeks ago.
Mayweather-Ortiz was rumored as far back as a couple of months ago, along with several less likely options and all manner of far fetched purse offers for him to fight Pacquiao, some seemingly genuine and others less so. All of which in the end either amounted to nothing or were rejected somewhere along the line by one side or the other.
At the time Ortiz initially confirmed the bout, leading to several prominent sites to do the same. Mayweather for some reason denied the rumors at the time, saying only that when he wanted to fight he would let everyone know.
So why the delay in announcing the fight?
The likely reason Mayweather denied the initial rumors of a fight between he and Ortiz are twofold.
Firstly by announcing his bout after Pacquiao vs. Marquez had already been finalized, there could be no backlash from those claiming that he is ducking Pacquiao.
After taking much of the blame over the twice failed negotiations between the pair, Mayweather taking another fight before Pacquiao had confirmed his would have lead to many claiming that he was scared of the Filipino.
Waiting until now simply gives his legions of detractors less ammunition.
Secondly and more importantly, by competing head to head against Marquez and Pacquiao, Mayweather can make himself and Ortiz look better by proxy.
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During the build up to his fight every interview and highlight reel shown will depict him dismantling Marquez with ease, while at the same time Top Rank attempt to sell Marquez as a genuine threat to a fighter many claim is better than Mayweather. Advertisement
Fight fans well versed in the history of all three fighters will know that Marquez was simply too small at welterweight against Mayweather and that he gave Pacquiao problems at a much lower weight.
They will also know that while a naturally smaller fighter, Marquez’s in ring achievements are far greater than Ortiz’s are likely to ever be, and that he holds a big stylistic advantage over Pacquiao.
Those that don’t know this might assume however, with plenty of encouragement from Mayweather, that he must be by far the better fighter due to the ease with which he defeated a fighter his rival struggled against in the past.
Not only then can Mayweather steal much of Pacquiao’s thunder in the months leading up to the fight, he can do so safe in the knowledge that he has the higher ranked opponent on paper.
Of course given Pacquiao and Marquez’s history and the competitiveness of their past bouts, it seems likely that a third fight, even one that in the end Pacquiao convincingly wins, could be one of the best bouts of the year.
Mayweather vs. Ortiz may be a compelling fight, but more likely will see the former neutralize the offense of the latter resulting in a one sided if not overly aggressive fight.
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With Mayweather’s well noted selling skills though it will be his fight and not Pacquiao’s that will probably generate the more interest.
This isn’t the first time Mayweather has seemingly bettered Pacquiao’s choice of opponent of late either.
Shortly after Pacquiao confirmed his March fight last year with Joshua Clottey, Mayweather responded by signing up to fight a resurgent Shane Mosley in May.
Not that they can second guess their rival’s moves every time, but in the future Top Rank might be better served to both avoid former Mayweather opponents and ensure that they have a firm grasp on what he is planning before going ahead and announcing Pacquiao’s next opponent.
One additional question that will also be raised should both Pacquiao and Mayweather win as expected later this year will be which deserves the top ranking in both the welterweight division and the mythical pound for pound debate.
For the time being Pacquiao is more or less universally ranked number one, in most cases due to his greater activity and in some only due to Mayweather’s removal from the rankings due to over a year passing since his last fight.
The obvious way to settle the debate would be for the pair to finally fight, although despite the obvious build up that their September and November bouts will naturally create, there is no guarantee that this is going to happen.
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