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Mayweather-Ortiz 24/7 Episode 3: No Fights With Dad, No Skits With 50…WOODS

Published

12 years ago

September 11, 2011

The third episode of HBO’s Mayweather-Ortiz 24/7 continued the theme of showing the personality differences between Floyd and Victor. Basically, we see the Money persona versus Humble Victor.

Mayweather said he was miffed at the attention Ortiz’ backstory has gotten. He then made a crack about Ortiz getting massaged by a man in the last episode, and added another crack at Oscar De La Hoya, who was seen wearing fishnets in photos of him cavorting with an ex stripper in 2007.

Mayweather is then seen working his body, not his mouth. He does pads with Uncle Roger. We then see Floyd sipping a mix of orange soda and Mountain Dew in his workout’s homestretch.

Viewers then see a Labor Day cookout given by Floyd’s staff, to thank the fighter.

In Ortiz’ zone, we see Victor at a public meet n greet at a block party. The next day, a group from Big Brothers and Big Sisters come to visit Victor. Props to the fighter for giving back to kids who need some direction and hope. He tells the kids not to give in to negativity, and to believe in themselves.

At his media day, in Ventura, CA., Ortiz says he isn’t phased. Trainer Danny Garcia too says he doesn’t focus on the hubbub. “Our job is to work hard and get ready,” he says.

Ortiz slams a heavy bag and barks out personal affirmations.

At the Mayweather Boxing Club, media day arrives. It’s old hat for Money. He chatters, cracks jokes, works the speedbag, and then does a Q n A. He is asked about the spat with his dad in episode one. “I wish him nothing but the best,” Floyd says.

Floyd says he’s tired of hearing that Ortiz has had it so hard. “They make it seem like I just woke up and I’m just a multimillionaire. My father been in prison, my mother left, my mother been on drugs, and my father been a drug dealer. I been through it all. We lived seven deep in a one bedroom. But I don’t talk about that on the show,” Floyd says of his upbringing in Michigan.

Floyd is then seen at a car dealership, with a couple pals. We’re told he owns 14 luxury cars, worth more than $4 million. On this day, he trades a Bentley for a new Rolls.

We then see the new Rolls, all white. He pays in cash to make up the difference.

Ray J plays the piano in Floyd’s living room, and sings some.

At Danny Garcia’s house, he is studying tape of Floyd. He watches Floyd against Ricky Hatton. “He’s dirty,” Garcia comments, when Floyd is seen throwing a forearm.

Garcia says “Floyd’s going to pay for his mistakes.” We shall see..Victor could well get shut out. I see balance issues, and him squaring up, and him being absolutely ripe for Floyd to pick apart. Unless Floyd has aged more than a bit…

Ortiz says he’s happy with his progress in camp. “As of right now, everything is feeling pretty on point.”

Karl Dargan, Tony Flores and Steve Forbes give him sparring work. Garcia tells the boxer to go inside, aim for the body, and be aggressive with the jab.

Next, Floyd takes the Rolls for a spin. He says that “my fans come first. I don’t want to say they come first because I come first, self preservation is the law of the land, I must put myself first…People that pay to see you win, people that pay to see you lose, they’re both fans, because they both paying.”

At his house, the night owl is on Skype, at 2:30 AM. He chats with US soldiers in Afghanistan. “I want to let every troop know over there that’s fighting for this country, I love you guys.”

His fiancee, Miss Jackson, pops in to say hi. The troops seem to love her dimples.

He then boasts about his net worth, and his 22 thousand square foot home. Not sure how this played to the soldiers, who are fighting for peanuts, and frequently have to fight for benefits when they come back home…

Ortiz then tells his coaches he wants a day off. “They didn’t like it too much, but I was like, all due respect, coach, I’m going to take my day off whether you guys like it or not.” Garcia says he’s cool with that.

The day off sees Team Ortiz going on a fishing expedition. Ortiz says, “Floyd thinks this is going to be a walk in the park. This is going to be very ugly, bloody walk for him. There’s a lot of thing I see in him, about him, they don’t mix with me, and they won’t.”

Mayweather references his legal woes, his arrogance. But he always comes to win, all must admit. Granted, sir.

We finish with a series of cuts back and forth between the two, working out, and talking up their chances and bonafides. Floyd has the last words: “I am the WBC, world’s best champion, world’s best champion. I’m going to be the last man standing, still here, still going strong. Anybody else, who’s next?”

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Michael Woods

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

7 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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Articles

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

Published

7 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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Articles

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

Published

7 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”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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