By Carlos Young de San Felipe
Honestly, I didn’t expect these two fighters to face each other. I don’t think anyone ever thought that Victor Ortiz would be defending his WBC title, the one he won from Andre Berto, his title; against Floyd Mayweather. Wow!
Victor got the belt for beating Andre Berto for his belt, in what was supposed to be a lop sided win for Berto. Well, this one will go down as one of the best title fights this year despite the following.
Berto didn’t Train – This is not to take anything away from Victor’s win; a win is a win. But, early in the promotional days before the fight, in an interview, Berto made the comment the Victor was a “B” fighter and he was an “A” fighter basically and that statement inspired Victor and his camp. How do I know that Berto didn’t train? Did you watch the fight?
Berto was out of gas in round five in a twelve round fight, many times working his way over onto the ropes, on several occasions, inviting Victor to come and exhaust himself. Victor obliged during a few of the invites but was in such tremendous shape that he didn’t get winded much at all.
Victor was in-it-to-win-it! He won! Very Good Win!! Big, Big confidence booster.
And now here we are, Victor Ortiz and Floyd Mayweather Jr., with Victor saying he’ll be the one fighting Manny Pacquiao next year not Floyd and to do that he’ll beat Floyd twice; due to a rematch clause in the contract to fight Floyd.
I say, Hum? I also say, Floyd will be in shape and perhaps Victor should have gotten that rematch clause for himself. Beating Floyd Mayweather one time is going to be pretty tough to do, beating him twice is going to be lets’ say, “Very, Very Hard?”
If Floyd’s healthy, I would use the words “Impossible”. He doesn’t have a loss on his record and Victor is going to beat him twice? In some boxing circles Floyd is yet still the pound-for-pound best in the world. Hum? Berto’s conditioning was deplorable for a top notch professional or extremely disrespectful, one or the other to Ortiz and he had Victor on the canvas in the late to middle rounds twice; I recall. I know once for sure.
Some will say hey man didn’t you see the fight, Victor had him down early in round one(1) and again in round two(2) and in round six(6). They both went down. Berto was down three times in the fight.
This counter information is correct. I didn’t say Victor didn’t beat Berto’s ass; he did!!
If you are honest with yourself you’ll be able to say, I have never seen Berto run out of energy so early in a fight. He’s always in shape; but not that night.
The night Victor Ortiz beat Berto he was in better shape, the skill sets are pretty much the same. This is a testament to his trainers, the environment he came from. The Garcia family is building and developed a family of fighters in Oxnard with the will and desire to win. But!
Let me remind you just one more time that Floyd will be in shape for the fight, he has no losses, and he’s known, in boxing, to have the best defense in the game. Victor, knowing that Floyd is going to be in shape, no question; has to guard against over training and the mind game trap.
Can Victor beat Floyd once, yeah; but not twice. I’ll explain. I need you to be patient.
I want to make the statement right here and now that Victor Ortiz cannot beat a healthy Floyd Mayweather twice. I should not say twice, I should say back to back and the answer to that question is NO, he cannot, back-to-back.
The Victory over Berto was very good for Victor and Berto. Victor knows he can dig down and be a champ and Berto learned on any given evening, if you are not prepared, an “A” fighter can get his clock cleaned by a “B” fighter; if he still considers Victor a “B”, fighter, the subject of which I don’t think he believes anymore.
Victor showed Berto that he is an “A” fighter, a statement of which I agree with, but there are levels of “A” fighters just as in any other sport there is a top “A” player and a bottom “A” player of which encompasses the “A” group of “A” players. In this case it fighters.
That said, right before Berto’s eyes and our eyes Victor slipped into the top five(5) of the “A” group of fighters, in my opinion.
I’m happy to see the fight was made it will be a pretty good one and who knows, Victor might be writing his story, his history, his legacy. Victor is from the Mid-West (Kansas), a part of the country that the Mayweather family claims produces the best fighters.
Isn’t that observation interesting? The best fighters in America comes from the Mid- West, according to trainer and uncle, Roger Mayweather. When telling the story Roger then begins to go through the list of all the great Mid-Western fighters. Wouldn’t it be funny if he has to add Victor Ortiz to that list of great Mid-West fighters because he beat his nephew back-to-back, not twice, back-to-back.
Roger Mayweather may have to add Victor’s name to the list anyway. After all he grew up in the Mid-West, he’s a fighter and he’s pretty damn good.
Prediction:
Floyd wins, probably by decision, and Victor gets to fight Berto again, because his handlers didn’t negotiate a rematch.
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