Articles

Floyd Drops, Stops Ortiz In 4th…Was It A Cheap Shot? …WOODS

Published

9 years ago

September 18, 2011

MayweatherOrtiz_Hoganphotos2 (Hogan Photos)You are told to protect yourself at all times. Victor Ortiz forgot that ring basic, and paid for it in the main event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday night. After Ortiz had a point taken in the fourth for a deliberate butt, the action re-started. He and Mayweather came together, and Victor tried to apologize. Floyd ripped a left hook, right hand follow, and down went Ortiz. He didn't beat the count of ten.

The Marquess of Queensberry rolled over in his coffin, for sure.

After, Merchant talked to Floyd. He asked him if it was a cheap shot. Floyd thanked God, and his team. He then said he was hit by a dirty shot, and “it's protect yourself at all times.”

He thanked the crowd for coming out and buying the PPV. Merchant asked him to talk about the fight. He had watch Floyd the video. “He done something dirty, we're not here to cry and complain about what he did or I did dirty. I was victorious. If he wants a rematch, he can get a rematch.” He then stopped the interview, and said he never gets a fair shake from Merchant. “What are you talking about?” Larry said. “HBO needs to fire you,” Floyd screamed. “You don't know shit about boxing.”

“I wish I was 50 years younger and I'd kick your ass,” Larry answered. When he re-joined Merchant at ringside, he said, “I don't really think I could've kicked his ass 50 years ago. But I would have tried it.” He then laughed, God bless him.

All time classic, kids. Money well spent on that PPV.

Ortiz then said “it happens” about the butt. “I'm not a dirty fighter,” he said. “I'm sorry for that.” He said he said sorry to Floyd after the deduction. Merchant asked him if he thought that was unfair. “You could look at it two ways. I came out here to show the fans a good time, and I think they did have a good time, except for that little miscommunication by the ref. I'm not perfect, no one is, neither is the ref. I have no one to blame for it, it's a learning experience.”

Mayweather (age 34; 5-8; 41-0 entering) was 146 1/2 pounds, 150 on fight night, while the WBC welterweight champion Ortiz (24; 5-9; 29-2-2 entering; from Kansas, lives in CA) was 147 (164 on fight night).

The first round kicked off at 11:55 ET, for the record, right after Michael Buffer offered his signature rumble call. Floyd landed a lead right which drew ewws. A hook from Ortiz scored soon after. Ortiz didn't rush in pell mell, undisciplined, overjuiced. It was a strategic round and a good one for Ortiz. He didn't look out of his element. Trainer Roger Mayweather told Floyd to work the jab, and keep backing Ortiz up.

In the second, Floyd looked mostly to land the right. Floyd grinned a couple times, after Victor tried to land a power shot. Ortiz tried to muscle Floyd some, using his weight advantage. Roger said to “keep backing him up” after the round. Trainer Danny Garcia told Victor to get inside. Harold Lederman gave Ortiz the second. I did not.

In the third, Floyd's timing looked to be on. He'd throw as Ortiz started to throw, and landed first. Right hands down the middle were landing just about every time and you had to wonder if Ortiz could do anything to change that.

In the fourth, Floyd opened up thirty seconds in. Victor tried a head butt in a clinch, the second time he'd done so. He threw shots as Floyd was on the ropes, and Floyd shook his head, indicating he wasn't bothered at all. Floyd was now backing Ortiz up, as Roger had instructed. Victor head butted him, hard, deliberately, and Cortez took a point. They hugged, and Floyd threw a left hook-right follow, and dropped him.

Come back for David Avila's ringside report.

Post Views: 0

Michael Woods

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

5 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.

Post Views: 0

Articles

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

Published

5 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.

Post Views: 0

Articles

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

Published

5 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

Post Views: 0