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StumbleAfter Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s victory, questions turn immediately to Manny Pacquiao
Fresh off controversial knockout of Victor Ortiz for welterweight title, Mayweather again flooded with questions about potentially facing Manny Pacquiao
Floyd Mayweather Jr. answers questions during a post-fight press conference following his fight against Victor Ortiz at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011.
Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011 | 2:05 a.m.
Mayweather KOs Ortiz for WBC welterweight title
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KSNV coverage of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s fourth-round knockout of Victor Ortiz to capture the WBC welterweight title, Sept. 17, 2011.
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It was only a matter of time until Floyd Mayweather Jr. was asked the question.
Mayweather scored a controversial fourth-round knockout Saturday against Victor Ortiz at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to win the WBC welterweight title. But in the post-fight news conference, the talk quickly shifted from the chaos surrounding the end of the fight to what is next in the undefeated Mayweather’s career.
And when you talk about a next fight for the 34-year-old Mayweather (42-0), one opponent always comes to mind: Manny Pacquiao. It would be the fight of the decade between boxing’s unquestioned top pound-for-pound fighters.
The bout, however, is not going to happen unless Pacquiao agrees to take a drug test by blood sample — the one roadblock continually preventing the fight from happening the past two years. On Saturday, Mayweather was steadfast in that demand.
“I just want an even playing field. That’s it,” Mayweather said. “If you have nothing to hide, then take the test.”
Listening to Mayweather rant and rave about the legacy of his career and the prospect of fighting Pacquiao, one could easily forget the controversy that ended his fight a few hours earlier.
The decisive fourth round went back and forth, and with about 20 seconds remaining in the round, Ortiz had Mayweather pinned in the corner against the ropes. But referee Joe Cortez stopped Ortiz while he was on the attack for an obvious head butt and deducted him a point.
After the stoppage, the fighters touched gloves in the middle of the ring to restart. That’s when Mayweather caught Ortiz off guard with a combination of punches to end the fight. Mayweather wasted no time once the fight resumed — a savvy move by the veteran, even though some observers in the sold-out arena felt Ortiz was cheated.
For Mayweather, however, there was no foul play.
When the fighters went to the middle of the ring and touched gloves to signal fighting again, Mayweather instantly connected with a left then the fight-ending right. You could easily blame the referee, Cortez, for not having the fighters separated enough. Or you could blame Ortiz for not having his hands up and ready — one of boxing’s golden rules.
Mayweather exited the arena to a chorus of boos. Replays on the arena's big screen showed the miscommunication as the fight restarted, adding more fuel to the fans' anger.
“He just caught me and I woke up after, like ‘oh, so this is what is going on,'" Ortiz said.
Ortiz asked Mayweather for a rematch, which Mayweather said he would gladly give. However, it would appear to be an unlikely scenario, partially because the only fight of significant interest would be against Pacquiao and also because Mayweather isn’t sure when his next fight will be.
He fought tonight after a 16-month layoff and takes pride in being in control of his career. And he doesn’t hold any punches when sounding off about Pacquiao.
“With or without Pacquiao, anytime Floyd Mayweather goes out there he is going to make 70 million dollars. I don’t need him,” Mayweather said.
A few moments later, he added: “Pacquiao is famous because he is connected to my name. When they mention Pacquiao, they say who is that? They say that is the guy trying to fight Floyd Mayweather.”
Mayweather improved to 42-0 with the win and added another championship belt to his already massive collection. He’s a seven-time, five-division champion, displaying all of the title belts on the podium for his press conference.
It’s an impressive collection that makes him one of the best all-time pound-for-pound fighters. It put a big target on his back from criticism.
“I fight a guy 10 years younger than me, (my critics will say) he don’t have experience,” Mayweather said. “If I fight someone my age, he is too old. If I fight a guy moving up in weight class, he is too small. I’m always in a no-win situation. The only thing I can do is keep going out there and kicking ass.”
Discussion: 10 comments so far…
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Jon Jones defends belt for third time, downs rival Rashad Evans
| Date | Event | Headlining Match | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 1 | "The Ultimate Fighter Live" finale | Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann | Las Vegas: The Pearl at the Palms |
| June 8 | Boxing: ESPN2 Friday Night Fights | Kelly Pavlik vs. Scott Sigmon | Las Vegas: The Joint at Hard Rock |
| June 8 | UFC on FX 3 | Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall II | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. |
| June 9 | Boxing: Pacquiao vs. Bradley | Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley | Las Vegas: MGM Grand Garden Arena |
| June 22 | UFC on FX 4 | Gray Maynard vs. Clay Guida | Atlantic City, N.J. |
| June 23 | UFC 147 | Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin II | Belo Horizonte, Brazil |
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"The only thing I can do is keep going out there and kicking ass."
Thug vs Thug then laughing all the way to bank. There's no other way to put it. The sport of boxing died away after Jack Dempsey was KO'd then rose to his feet and said, "I want to shake that mans hand".
I agree - very little sportsmanship left. Mayweather cheated a win out of this one. I did, however, really enjoy watching Canelo Alvarez - he seems like a great fighter, great fanbase and attitude. Hope he makes it far.
Legal? Yes. A sucker punch? YES. Stay classy Mayweathers. Boxing might has well combine with the WWE....its become a joke.
The jumping head butt by Ortiz was the only sucker punch I saw. If Ortiz hadn't done that, then all the mess that followed would not have happened.
Exactly....if Ortiz didn't head butt Mayweather...the fight would have continued without all of the drama that unfolded. Ortiz was the fool who started it and the fool who didn't put up his guard after they touched gloves to restart the fight. Ortiz got what he deserved.
Boxing is like wrestling; predetermined winners where people suck it up and pay outrageous sums to watch such a phony event. Boxing is such a waste of time and money and to pay to watch the likes of Mayweather is an utter disgrace with his questionable background.
Ortiz broke the rules and paid for it with a point deduction. Floyd meanwhile gets to skate with a sucker-punch. Now everyone ask themselves, were the tables turned and Floyd was the one who got knocked out by that same exact cheap shot, do you really think Cortez would have counted him out? Hells no! Another point taken away from Ortiz is more like it. Perhaps a DQ. We all know this. Were Floyd on the losing end of this sucker punch, he would be crying like a little baby and demanding a state board investigation. Truth.
This is why boxing sucks...when the game is rigged from the jump, why even watch?
Good win in my book. Ortiz purposely got that dirty headbut in, the ref broke it up, and then they touched gloves, and pow... Mayweather blew him out. Ortiz is a fool for looking over at the ref and trying to get a free time out and play off his cheating head but. Ortiz got what he had coming to him. It was a great fight going, until that headbut. Great job Mayweather ! The bottom line is, if Ortiz is all that, he will be patient and do whatever it takes to get a rematch.
After you touch gloves, it's game on! Ortiz stood there with his hands down doing nothing and Mayweather knocked his A** out. People hate on Mayweather because he's cocky and flashy with his money. The more people hate on the man, the stronger he gets. When u have a professional record like he does, then u can talk smack. Also, why has not anyone thanked Mayweather for all the money he brought to this town this weekend? He alone has made people in this town a lot of money this weekend, because of him. Love him or hate him, he is the money man. Ask him, he'll tell ya lol. Thank you Mayweather, it's been a great weekend for Las Vegas. Lookforward to seeing you fight again!
Love him or hate him Mayweather is the best thing going for boxing right now.
And he's still undefeated.
Boxing in general needed a controversial night like that.
"Pacquiao is famous because he is connected to my name?"
No, Pacquaio is more famous because he has more belt to show and has fought and won in more divisions.
And the Pac-Man is more loved by fans because he is a gentleman not like you Mr. Mayweather, who has a big head.
Mr. Mayweather, stop talking trash and sign the contract to fight Pacquiao just like you are fighting other fighters with no extra demands.
Everytime Pacquiao agrees to your silly demands, you come up with another silly demand to avoid fighting him.
Enough of this BS excuses already. Fight Pacquiao and get it done with.
is it boxing or wrestling thats fake, i can never tell the difference?
Mayweather stop the bs and fight Pacquiao
Right after the fight, no one from the Mayweather camp is celebrating 'coz they already know the script.
Even though it is what "everyone" wants...
It seems obvious that Mayweather will not fight Pacquaio (who obviously has an excellent chance of beating him) anytime soon.
Granny May is hillarious, he'll say whatever he needs to not look like a scared chicken about fighting Pacquaio. Simply hillarious.
My girl and I came up with the answer on this one. After Ortiz hits Mayweather with an illegal headbut, he kisses Mayweather on the cheek. If you look at Mayweather's reaction, he looked like he was shocked/embarrased. He actually looked like he was at a loss of words. After kissing Mayweather on the cheek, touching gloves, then trying to give Mayweather a hug. Mayweather knocked him out. Maybe it was only one second after they were allowed to fight, but one second is a long time in boxing.
Mayweather represents the classless street fighter, big mouth, up-inda-club, cool cat, burnin Benjamins - and that is EXACTLY what the majority of his >30 demographic relate to.
Pacquiao represents one of the few Filipinos who made it big $ WITHOUT State corruption and stealing from the people. He also represents one of the few Filipinos that the Filipinos can be proud of - in thier rabid nationalistic way.
It will be a good fight...and Mayweather can win unless he goes Tyson 1992 - which is more likely than not.