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“Boxing's Like A Girlfriend, We Broke Up, Now I'm Back With Her”

Published

13 years ago

July 11, 2011

MikeOrtega2 In 2008, back when the MMA vs. boxing debate was still booming, when Manny Pacquiao knocked out Oscar De la Hoya and Fedor Emelianenko was still “Fedor,” Mike “Ortega Time” Ortega made a life changing decision. He was a 1-0 professional boxer that wanted to try his luck in the mixed martial artists.

At the time, Ortega’s choice seemed confusing to his peers. The Sacramento native learned boxing when he was 13 years old, was an amateur standout, and desired boxing glory. But roadblocks in getting suitable fights, long training camps that led to no-show opponents and some opponents that pulled out of the bout on the day of the weigh in discouraged the now 25-year-old Ortega.

You see, Mike does not care much for the politics that sometimes prevent events from happening. He just wants to fight. And who could blame him for being frustrated?

So after winning his pro boxing debut, a four round welterweight decision victory in June of 2008, and getting up for training camps only to come crashing down because the other fighters never followed through and showed up to the fight date, Ortega decided to go Bo Jackson. He wanted to see how well he could handle himself in the Octagon. Ortega says, “What I love about the MMA is the physical part. Just to pick somebody up and slam them on their head is fun as well.”

For the past two years Ortega went all out MMA, and trained with Urijah Faber as part of his Team Alpha Male Camp. In the MMA, Ortega has a 1-1 professional record. His obvious strength is his standup fighting skills. Yet he has continued to work to improve his grappling ability because he does not want to feel disadvantaged against anyone with a stellar ground attack.

Ortega says that he has what it takes to become successful in both sports or else he wouldn’t practice them.

“I want to do both. Boxing has helped my MMA skills. My standup is obviously a strong point for me. I do have what it takes to be successful in boxing and the MMA. With boxing, I have always had that itch. I have been doing it since I can remember. I just want to do both because I know I can.”

At this point in his fighting career, the welterweight Ortega admits that he is a more seasoned boxer. He returned to the squared circle on June 24th, in Fairfield, Ca winning by fourth round KO against Mike Alexander in a four rounder to raise his boxing record to 2-0. Ortega believes that his boxing skills give him an edge in the MMA. But how does his commitment to the MMA help his boxing?

“MMA has helped my vision so much. In the MMA you are looking for the takedown. You pay attention to kicks. You pay attention to punches. In boxing, you only have two hands to worry about. You don’t have elbows, knees, and kicks. Not to take away from the difficulty in boxing. I am the first to say that boxing is one of the most difficult sports in the world. But personally it seems like it (MMA) has helped me out. I feel like I could see the (boxing) punches coming from a mile away. I still get hit, but less than before.”

In the meantime, Ortega’s focus is on boxing. After the bout on June 24th, he plans on jumping back in the ring by the end of the summer. He dreams of becoming the first man to hold a title in the MMA and boxing simultaneously. So don’t expect him to close the door on being a two sport athlete just yet.

“It’s all a fight. I love to do both. There is no difference to me. I will pursue whatever takes me the furthest. I definitely have a passion and love for boxing. I consider it like a girlfriend; broke up with her for a little bit, but now I am back with her. So I will continue to pursue both sports. And whatever takes me further in the end, I am sticking with it.”
Fight on, Mike Ortega, fight on.

Contact: Raymond.Markarian@yahoo.com

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

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