Every sport needs a good villain.
The NBA has LeBron James.
The NFL has Michael Vick.
MLB has anyone wearing the Yankee pinstripes.
And boxing has Floyd Mayweather.
The undefeated face of boxing didn’t win over any new fans Saturday night during his knockout victory over Victor Ortiz at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Towards the conclusion of an exciting fourth round, a frustrated Ortiz intentionally head-butted Mayweather, forcing referee Joe Cortez to deduct a point as a result.
An apologetic Ortiz went over and kissed (yes, kissed) Mayweather on the cheek and hugged the fighter on more than one occasion. After the men touched gloves, Mayweather extracted his revenge for the head-butt with a wicked combination on an unprotected Ortiz, sending the 24-year-old to the mat.
Yes, Cortez was looking at the timekeeper instead of paying attention to the action in the ring.
Yes, Ortiz was under the impression that the fight hadn’t resumed.
And yes, you can make the argument that Mayweather’s actions weren’t sportsmanlike. But this is boxing, a vicious sport where fighters are told to protect themselves at all times. Ortiz failed to do so and paid the price as a result.
If the roles were reversed and Mayweather was the one who delivered an intentional head-butt and was knocked out as a result, would the public chastised Ortiz?
Hardly.
Ortiz would have been a national hero as the first boxer to add a blemish to Mayweather’s immaculate resume.
It’s ironic that days before the fight, Ortiz’s trainer, Danny Garcia, accused Mayweather of being a “sneaky, dirty fighter.” In reality, it was Garcia’s fighter that used those same “sneak, dirty” tactics he was attempting to prevent.
Nobody is making the argument that Mayweather is someone your kids should look up to or idolize.
Hell, he cussed out an 80-year-old Larry Merchant on live TV—>
While he does his share of giving back to the community, his legal issues outside the ring are well documented; including an ongoing domestic dispute charged stemming from an altercation with ex-girlfriend Josie Harris. He also has a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time — most recently on Saturday night when his personal R&B singer/lackey Ray J punched rapper Fabolous at a nightclub inside The Palms.
But despite his flaws, Mayweather remains the face of boxing.
Ask the executives at HBO that notice the spike in ratings whenever Mayweather is featured on 24/7.
Ask the executives at the MGM Grand that routinely have a sold out Grand Garden Arena when Mayweather fights.
Ask the executives at the cable and satellite providers across the country when they see record pay-per-view buys for Mayweather fights.
You would never know that boxing was dying a slow death thanks to the popularity of mixed martial arts whenever Mayweather headlines a card. When was the last time you attended a UFC fight party or heard a discussion at the water cooler about Anderson Silva or Georges
St-Pierre?
Three days later and folks are still buzzing about Mayweather.
As for the Manny Pacquiao debate, instead of being praised for trying to clean up the sport of boxing, Mayweather is accused of dodging “Pac-Man” because he’s requesting Olympic-style drug testing. Nobody can prove that Pacquiao has ever used performance-enhancing drugs, but not many fighters make the jump from light flyweight (105 pounds) all the way to light welterweight (154 pounds). Based on Mayweather’s post-fight comments, both sides still have some serious work to do.
“I don’t need him,” Mayweather said Saturday night. “Where was Pacquiao in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 when I was dominating the game? He never asked me (for a fight) when I was in my twenties or when I was in my teens.”
In fact, Mayweather doesn’t need to fight Pacquiao at this point to cement his legacy as one of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers of all-time. With rising stars Amir Khan and Timothy Bradley eventually moving up to welterweight, Mayweather will have his share of quality opponents that will be foaming at the mouth to knock off the legend.
While Mayweather would be missing out on the biggest payday in boxing history by not fighting Pacquiao, let’s not forget “Money” took home $25 million for beating Ortiz.
Love him or hate him, Mayweather is exactly what this sport needs.
