Two-division World Champion and Philippine boxing legend Gerry Penalosa once told me that 90% of boxing has to do with the psychological aspect.
Penalosa’s significant fights toward the latter part of his career were against bigger, stronger, younger fighters that were supposed to steamroll past him, yet time and time again, the crafty veteran made like a yellow bus driver and took his opponents to school. In 65 fights, Penalosa was never knocked down, a feat that has as much to do with his chin, skills as it does with his mental toughness. Advertisement
Don’t believe me?
How many fighters have you seen take knees and quit? Penalosa could’ve done so against Juan Manuel Lopez, instead he made fans out of the appreciative Puerto Rican crowd that witnessed him take the beating of his life from the much younger and powerful then-undefeated champ.
Former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz was, and still is, one of the most promising boxing talents in his batch. But here’s a guy who puts Penalosa’s theory in action.
On the outside, Ortiz sure seems like a nice young man who’s made something out of himself, overcoming all the well document struggles that he has had to go through as a kid.
One would assume going through hardship like that would galvanize a man’s will unbreakable. Ortiz one of those unpredictable boxers than can either wow you, or make you shake your head on any given night. In the right mind set, he’ll give you a Fight of the Year performance like he did when he beat Andre Berto last April in Connecticut. On other nights, he’ll wave the white flag in the middle of a winnable battle, contemplate retirement, or go on a mental breakdown during the biggest fight of his career, and throw away a fight.
I hate to say it, but the kid is mentally weak.
I don’t know if Ortiz plays basketball, but I’m definitely not passing him the ball for the game-winning shot. I’d rather take my chances shooting from half-court over Dikembe Mutombo than rely on him to make a wide open jump shot.
Recently, Ortiz got himself in hot water once again after saying he wanted to “break Floyd Mayweather’s nose” with that lunging head-butt he tried to pull off in the fourth round of their fight that sparked a series of brain farts in his part and ultimately landed his rear on that canvas after deciding to leave his guard down while apologizing for his dumb idea. A euphemism for what transpired is to call it “controversial”; what it really was is “stupid”. I for one would have done exactly what Mayweather did in that instance.
Check out this video: Mayweather said, “I was born to do this.” Ortiz butted in saying “No disrespect, but I was born to do this as well.” Mayweather then responded saying, “Okay… that’s what they all say.” nufsed.
Now the Nevada State Athletic Commission wants Ortiz to explain himself before being allowed a boxing licence to fight in the state and for his Feb. 11 rematch with Andre Berto to push through.
Although nobody truly expects Ortiz to not get his license (then again, who knows what he might say again?), one has to wonder how many more brain farts Ortiz can make in his career and live to tell about it. What he has going for him is the fact that he is still a ‘youngin’ at 24-years-old. With that said, one has to wonder what “could’ve been” for Ortiz, if he only “had it” between his ears.
On Feb. 11, Ortiz gets another shot at redeeming himself and remind boxing fans just how good he can be when he has everything together, against the same man he did against the last time he did. Can he make believers out of his critics again? Or was it simply a fluke? Heck, with the enigmatic mind of Victor Ortiz, even “Pac Man doesn’t know”.
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