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Floyd Mayweather JR – Victor Ortiz: A BETTER FIGHT BY THE DAY

By Geno McGahee

The HBO 24/7 series knows how to promote a fight, and the upcoming PPV bout between the cocky and undefeated pound for pound best in the game, Floyd Mayweather, JR., 41-0, 25 KO’s, and Victor Ortiz, 29-2-2, 22 KO’s, the WBC Welterweight Champion, is becoming a very hot ticket.

Floyd Mayweather, JR., is a remarkable person, mixing hype with substance, and earning a growing number of supporters through intelligent marketing. He has been involved with the popular WWE and has proven less is more, fighting rarely and making every appearance a big event. Add the fact that he is not an exciting fighter, typically. Pernell Whitaker, as great as he was, never caught on like this, and he was also a defensive great fighter…a much better fighter than Floyd, but he didn’t have the business sense that “Money” possesses.

The problem with Floyd is that he may have bought into his hype and appears to be overlooking the hungry and powerful Victor Ortiz.

Ortiz has various positives going into this fight. He is a southpaw, a style that has caused Floyd some issues in the past. Both Zab Judah and DeMarcus Corley hurt him and both were southpaws. Ortiz is a big jump in danger from the shot Shane Mosley and the small counter-puncher Juan Manuel Marquez. He is highly motivated and has said that an ambition of his has been to defeat Floyd Mayweather, JR., and he will get his shot on the 17th of this month.

There are so many factors that can figure into this fight. For Floyd, it’s the inactivity and lack of real competition over the past several years. For Ortiz, it’s the big stage. How will he react when he’s in the main event against the biggest name in boxing?

Initially when this fight was announced, the natural reaction by the majority of the media was that Floyd would easily win, but with the various problems in his personal life, time out of the ring, and possibly overconfidence, we may be in for one of the most memorable boxing upsets in recent history.

Another interesting fight on the card, to sweeten the pot, is Erik Morales, 51-7, 35 KO’s, taking on Lucas Martin Matthysse, 28-2, 26 KO’s, for the WBC Light Welterweight Title. Matthysse has been the victim of robbery, arguably twice, against Devon Alexander and Zab Judah, and now looks for redemption against the old warrior, Morales.

Morales was destroyed by Manny Pacquiao and considered completely shot, but a spirited losing effort to the highly touted Marcos Maidana made some reconsider the Mexican legend as true contender, even at this stage of the game.

Maidana may have been overrated, and Morales may not have much left in the gas tank, which makes this fight with Matthysse very dangerous, especially considering the fact that Matthysse is looking for the knockout. He’s been screwed twice by the judges and will try to take that out of the equation this time around.

The Ortiz-Mayweather JR PPV will be a show. It will be interesting and Mayweather, JR., is truly facing a challenge this time around.

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