Say what you will about Floyd Mayweather. You can say he?s an arrogant showboat, a champion without humility or simply a ?young, black and rich? individual who?s ?not afraid to speak his mind?. Yes, Floyd Mayweather will give you every reason to hate him outside of the ring but never, ever doubt his boxing ability. Just last night, Mayweather made a triumphant return to the ring against ?Vicious? Victor Ortiz, sending the latter into a dizzy scramble to beat the count in the waining seconds of the 4th round.
It was Mayweather?s first knockout of a legitimate Welterweight in nearly 6 years since stopping Sharmba Mitchell back in 2005 (Ricky Hatton was not a Welterweight and was much smaller than Mayweather) ? a spectacular, albeit surprising end to a fight that many actually thought Ortiz had a chance of winning.
There are a multitude of reasons why it?s easy to hate Floyd Mayweather and I?m sure everyone?s tired of hearing it so I won?t even attempt to list them down. I admit, I?m not exactly a big fan of Floyd Mayweather outside the ring although I do view his antics as entertaining. Mayweather?s persona just rubs people the wrong way and that?s why many people pay to see someone they think could possibly give the ?Pretty Boy? his first beatdown.
Personally, I?ve always criticized him of the way he would pick and choose the perfect opponents to showcase his brand of style to the world. I?ve always maintained that it was Mayweather holding off a possible fight with Pacquiao, and not the other way around. The fact of the matter is, once Mayweather steps inside that ring, he backs up all the talk he spews out prior.
You can knock on him as a person, no one is perfect? but you can?t knock on his mastery of the sweet science. Inside the ring, Mayweather is the best it could ever get. He?s beat everyone they?ve put in front of him and most recently, spectacularly.
It was a brilliant performance by Mayweather who showed absolutely no signs of aging or decline, or even ring rust for that matter even after an extended vacation away from the fight game for a good 16 months. Since the very first second of the first round, Floyd showed the same brand of blindingly fast and accurate punch output. At times, it would seem as if Victor Ortiz was at a loss on how to figure out Mayweather?s confounding defense. With crisp combinations, a beautiful uppercut which I rarely see Mayweather throw nowadays, and a newfound and a bit more aggressive and entertaining style ? Mayweather has definitely won a few fans with that performance.
Props to Floyd Mayweather for doing what he said he was going to do and that?s knock Victor Ortiz out. You can say what you want, but it wasn?t Mayweather?s fault Ortiz wasn?t protecting himself after the break. And you can?t fault Mayweather for throwing the punch just because Ortiz had his hands down and was wide open. That?s like saying everytime Kobe Bryant takes a jump shot, someone has to be guarding him or else it?s considered cheating. Mayweather saw an opportunity and he went for it. Simple as that.
I am in no way pleased with the outcome of this fight however, I think Ortiz had more fight in him than that and would have made it interesting in the later rounds. In fact, it looked like a job well done by Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions for putting together an amazing production by pitting a young, inexperienced neophyte against one of the greatest of all time ? and make it look like an even match prior to the bout. In reality, Ortiz had no chance.
In the words of ?Money May? himself: ?Yes Manny Pacquiao, you?re next!?
No Floyd, we haven?t forgotten.
Anyway, congratulations to the one, and only, Floyd ?Money? Mayweather.
Now for the last time, fight Manny Pacquiao for crying out loud!
