Boxing
On This Day: Floyd Mayweather's most controversial knockout win
Floyd Mayweather is one of the greatest and most technically gifted fighters of all-time – a five-weight world champion who retired without ever being defeated in a professional ring with a record of 50-0 (27).
But his career spans over 20 years, and one cannot avoid close calls and controversy, even if you were unbeatable.
Mayweather famously had his closest fights against Oscar De La Hoya, who was the first and only man to take a scorecard from “Money’, Jose Luis Castillo, who was the first man to outland Mayweather and his first meeting with Marcos Maidana, where he was relentlessly pursued by the Argentine.
But today marks the 14th anniversary of Mayweather’s most controversial stoppage – a fourth-round knockout of WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz in Las Vegas, which is still remembered as one of the most divisive knockout victories in the history of the sport.
Mayweather back on the world stage
By the time of the fight in 2011, Mayweather had not fought in over 14 months since his victory over Shane Mosley and even more surprisingly, had not been in a world title fight since his knockout win over Ricky Hatton in 2007.
Ortiz became WBC welterweight champion five months earlier, outpointing Andre Berto and was initially in talks for a rematch with Berto or previous conqueror Marcos Maidana.
But Mayweather invoked his right as a former WBC champion in five different divisions to drop himself straight into a world title shot.
Mayweather made a staggering guaranteed $25,000,000, which reportedly went up to nearly $40,000,000 as the challenger. The champion Ortiz made, in comparison, a measly $2,000,000.
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Mayweather in control early
In the first round, Mayweather did what he does best - picking off Ortiz from range, baiting, countering and all with a wry smile on his face as Ortiz chased shadows.
It was clear that Ortiz wanted to either pressure Mayweather into fighting up close, or bait him into overbalancing and falling onto the southpaw straight left or hook. He boxed with a tight guard and his chin firmly tucked, hoping to capitalise on a mistake from Mayweather defensively.
But it was rare for Mayweather to make a mistake at all, let alone that early, and he happily landed sharp jabs and lead right hands before using his masterful head movement to avoid any rabid attacks from Ortiz.
The second round saw both fighters open up more. Mayweather jumped onto the front foot, which temporarily halted the output of Ortiz, who wasn’t known for his ability to box on the back foot. Mayweather found success with his lead right hand and left hook.
It became obvious about halfway through the second round that Ortiz had an extra weapon in his arsenal. He was using his head. He did this by pushing his head as close as he could to Mayweather, pinning him against the ropes and simultaneously pushing his chin further into the air, opening it up for hooks and overhands.
Mayweather’s defence, however, was too savvy for dirty boxing, and although Ortiz could put Mayweather on the back foot the challenger was so intelligent in using his jab not only as a deterrent, but also as a measuring stick to locate the range to land the stinging right hand
The five-division champion continued to stamp his authority in the third round with a captivating display of counter punching and ring generalship that gave him the lead on all three judges’ scorecards through three rounds.
The headbutt
The fourth round began with Mayweather throwing an unanswered flurry of almost 20 punches on a visibly frustrated Ortiz, who was beginning to charge in with his head with more frequency and had started to push upward with his head on Mayweather's chin – for which he received a warning from Joe Cortez.
Ortiz found his first pocket of success in the fight as around halfway through the round he landed a 5 punch combination with Mayweather on the ropes. Mayweather shook his head – a telltale sign the punches landed.
But normal service resumed, and ‘Money’ was sniping Ortiz at range with jabs and right hands without looking like he was expending any effort.
Then, with less than 30 seconds left in the round, Ortiz landed an impressive volley of 4 punches to a somewhat lazy-looking Mayweather. But this would be the decisive moment that would end Ortiz’s reign as world champion. He blatantly jumped up using the top of his head to connect with Mayweather’s chin for all to see mid-combination.
Whether he was lashing out in frustration or it was all part of the game plan is uncertain, but Ortiz was deducted a point by Joe Cortez, and as apologetic as he was towards Mayweather, he had intentionally used his head to try and damage his opponent.
The referee gave the signal for the fight to resume, and Ortiz offered Mayweather a second hug, which he half-heartedly accepted before landing a left hook followed by a right hand on Ortiz, who stood with his hands by his side.
The two-shot combination dropped Ortiz, and he was unable to make the count of Cortez, handing Mayweather the knockout victory.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
The aftermath
There was a mixture of outrage and delight in the crowd as those there to support Ortiz saw this as unsportsmanlike conduct from Mayweather, while Mayweather's fans believed Ortiz got what he deserved for an intentional headbutt.
In his post-fight interview with Larry Merchant, Mayweather was grilled by the long-serving reporter for his alleged conduct, and he gave a simple response.
Mayweather said: “In the ring, you have to protect yourself at all times. 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."
The knockout divides fans to this day, who continue to argue over whether it was a cheap shot or a failure of Ortiz to protect himself in the biggest fight of his career.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
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