Posted on 09/18/2011 8:08:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
LAS VEGAS (AP) — In just one round, Floyd Mayweather Jr. got a head butt, a kiss and a hug from Victor Ortiz before responding with a contentious punch that knocked out his opponent and put the WBC's welterweight belt back around the American's waist.
Mayweather remained unbeaten and did it in emphatic fashion Saturday, stopping Ortiz at 2:59 of the fourth round.
Mayweather made a minimum of $25 million for his first fight in 16 months, a sum that will likely go up as the pay-per-view receipts are tallied. He could make even more against Manny Pacquiao next May should Pacquiao win his November fight with Juan Manuel Marquez and the two finally agree to a bout.
In the decisive fourth round, Ortiz appeared to head butt Mayweather intentionally, prompting referee Joe Cortez to take a point away from him. After the head butt, Ortiz went to embrace Mayweather and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Seconds later they were in the center of the ring ready to resume action, briefly embraced again, then Mayweather delivered two punches that dropped his opponent and Ortiz was counted out as he tried to get back on his feet.
Ortiz claimed he was hit by a punch before Cortez had asked the fighters to continue.
“I took the break by the referee and I obeyed exactly as I was told,” Ortiz said. “And then, boom, he blindsided me.”
“There's two ways to look at it but as far as I was concerned I came here to entertain the fans and they were entertained,” Ortiz said. “There was a miscommunication with the referee but nobody is perfect and this was a learning experience.”
Trainer Freddie Roach thought Mayweather threw a cheap shot in knocking out Ortiz in the fourth round.
“Yeah,” Roach answered when asked if Mayweather’s left-right combination to Ortiz’s jaw was uncalled-for. “(I) didn’t see the referee say ‘box.’”
Roach said he didn’t see if referee Cortez had issued a strong signal that Mayweather and Ortiz can resume fighting. —With a report from Nick Giongco
More here:
Mayweather mayhem! Controversial win for Floyd before 80-year-old journalist tells him: If I was younger I’d kick your a**
EXCERPT:
American Floyd Mayweather claimed the WBC welterweight title with a controversial victory over Victor Ortiz in Las Vegas - before getting involved in an ugly spat with HBO’s Larry Merchant.
Mayweather knocked out Ortiz at the end of the fourth round to extend his unbeaten record to 42 fights.
But the 34-year-old looked to land the knockout blows while Ortiz was not ready after being penalised for a headbutt seconds earlier.
After a quiet opening, the fight burst into life in the fourth round with Ortiz getting Mayweather on the ropes without quite being able to find a decisive blow.
Just before the bell Ortiz had Mayweather on the ropes for a third time, only to be penalised for a headbutt.
The 24-year-old then seemed to be apologising and was not protecting himself as Mayweather landed two punches - the second a big right hand - to end the fight.
‘I got hit by a dirty shot. The rule is protect yourself at all time,’ Mayweather insisted in a post-fight interview with Merchant.
You be the judge... watch the video here:
http://www.businessinsider.com/floyd-mayweather-knockout-video-2011-9
Sour grapes.
One thing I know is that the ref was asleep. All his attention should have been focused on the boxers. Especially after attempting to pull them apart and resuming the bout.
Usually the bout starts again with the fighters fully separated by some distance and then the ref gives the signal to start boxing again with the fighters stepping into one another again.
i agree, the ref was an idiot. shoulda known with all his BS about , what was it, firm but fair? he ended up an old fool who lost control of the fight.
i bought the fight on HBO, as well as the last pacquio fight. dont think i ll buy another. those two were both awful and not worth the $120 total i shelled out.
plus, mayweather acted like a moron after the fight in my opinion. he shoulda not allowed himself to get baited on world wide tv.
“plus, Mayweather acted like a moron after the fight in my opinion. he shoulda not allowed himself to get baited on world wide tv.”
Heh, heh, Merchant is famous for that. I remember him when Tyson got his clock cleaned by Douglas back in the day.
The ref should go work for the WWF.
The Ref wasn’t even looking...he missed the whole thing...
RE: The Ref wasn’t even looking...he missed the whole thing...
If so, this is getting to be like Pro-wrestling.
Wow! The referee was asleep! Didn’t the ref know there was a boxing match going on?
Also what a cheap shot from the black guy. He must have learned this from the zero! LOL
Man, don’t ever let your guard down in a championship fight?
speaking of tyson, thought he looked pretty good at ringside.
awesome pic, thanks. wtf, oh yes.
If this fight followed the same script as many, many previous bouts in professional “boxing”, certain people made millions on the betting. They will make even more on the re-match when it goes down. Nothing new.
Total cheap shot,
but Mayweather was 99% likely to win anyway. Until the headbutt, he was dominating the fight.
Pussy still won’t fight Pac-Man.
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