Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Victor Ortiz

Background

Having defeated Andre Berto by unanimous decision in April 2011 to win the WBC welterweight title Victor Ortiz was linked to both a rematch with Berto and a rematch with former conqueror Marcos Maidana.

However on June 7, Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced via Twitter that he was set to challenge Ortiz on September 17, ending a 16 month absence from the ring. This would be Mayweather's first world title bout since his victory over Ricky Hatton in 2007.

The bout was held at the MGM Grand in Paradise, Nevada, Nevada and televised via HBO PPV as part of a split-site doubleheader, the broadcast also featured the Canelo Álvarez vs. Alfonso Gómez light middleweight championship bout taking place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

The fight

From round one, Mayweather used his speed, skills and accurate right hand to tag Ortiz repeatedly. Mayweather seemed in control through the first three rounds (judges scores: 30–27, 30–27, 29–28 for Mayweather), but in the fourth round, Ortiz found some success, landing a few shots and stinging Mayweather before backing him into the corner. Ortiz hit Mayweather in the face with an apparently intentional headbutt, busting open a cut on the inside and outside of Mayweather's mouth. Referee Joe Cortez immediately called timeout and penalised Ortiz a point for the foul. Ortiz, seemingly acknowledging his wrongdoing, hugged and kissed Mayweather in the corner. Cortez motioned the fighters back together to resume the fight. The fighters touched gloves and Mayweather seemed to half-heartedly return another hug from Ortiz. Then, with Cortez looking away from Mayweather, and as the fighters separated from the hug, Mayweather caught Ortiz with a left hook. Ortiz was stunned by the punch and, still not raising his hands to defend himself, was hit with a flush right to the face. Ortiz dropped straight onto the canvas and was unable to beat Cortez's count.

Aftermath

"In the ring, you have to protect yourself at all times," Mayweather said. "After it happened, we touched gloves and we were back to fighting and then I threw the left hook and right hand after the break. You just gotta protect yourself at all times." After the interviewer Larry Merchant pressed Mayweather on whether or not what he did was unsportsmanlike, Mayweather told the interviewer he never gives him a fair shake and should be fired.

Fight earnings

Mayweather was paid a guaranteed $25 million, which could have gone as high as $40 million depending on the pay per view numbers, and Ortiz was paid $2 million.

Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz generated buys from 1.25 million homes with a value of $78,440,000 in pay-per-view revenue. These numbers make the event the third highest grossing non-heavyweight pay-per-view event of all time.

Main card

Confirmed bouts:

• Welterweight Championship bout USA Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. USA Victor Ortiz
  • Mayweather defeats Ortiz via Knockout at 2:59 of the fourth round
• Light Welterweight Championship bout MEX Erik Morales vs. MEX Pablo César Cano
  • Morales defeats Cano via Technical Knockout at 3:00 of the tenth round.
• Light Welterweight bout USA Jessie Vargas vs. USA Josésito López
  • Vargas defeated López via Split Decision (95–94, 94–95, 96–93)

Preliminary card

• Welterweight bout USA Carson Jones vs Morocco Said Ouali
  • Jones defeats Ouali via Technical Knockout (Retirement) at 3:00 of the seventh round.
• Super Middleweight bout Canada Adonis Stevenson vs. USA Dion Savage
  • Stevenson defeats Savage via Technical Knockout at 1:57 of the first round.
• Super Middleweight bout Mexico Marco Antonio Periban vs. USA Dhafir Smith
  • Periban defeats Jones via Unanimous Decision. (80–72, 79–73, 79–73)
• Lightweight bout UK Anthony Crolla vs. Mexico Juan Montiel
  • Crolla defeats Montiel via Split Decision. (78–74, 77–75, 75–77)

International broadcasting

References

References

1. "Victor Ortiz vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.". BoxRec.
2. Rafael, Dan. (2011-04-17). "Victor Ortiz stuns Andre Berto". ESPN.
3. (June 7, 2011). "Floyd Mayweather to fight Victor Ortiz". ESPN.
4. [http://www.hbo.com/boxing/fights/2011/09-17-floyd-mayweather-jr-vs-victor-ortiz/index.html HBO: Boxing: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Victor Ortiz]. HBO.com. Retrieved on 2011-09-18.
5. (September 19, 2011). "Mayweather won fair and square". ESPN.
6. "BoxRec - event".
7. (September 19, 2011). "AKTV on IBC September Schedule". [[Associated Broadcasting Company.