The one word I can use to sum up a sporting event I watched on Saturday: disappointing, and I am not talking about the UNM football team’s lost to Texas Tech.
I’m referring to the highly anticipated fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Victor Ortiz.
Now, I’m not the biggest boxing fan, but I do enjoy watching the fights that can generate enough hype for people to actually talk about them.
And the main attraction usually has Mayweather, who has made himself into one of the biggest sports villains in history. He is one guy people pay money to root against.
For almost four rounds, it was money well spent.
Mayweather asserted his defense early on and, as usual, landed the more accurate shots. But it was Ortiz who provided an offensive attack that hadn’t been seen in Mayweather’s opponents since Jose Luis Castillo.
Ortiz missed more than he landed, but he was unafraid of the undefeated Mayweather. Ortiz looked like someone who didn’t know or care what stage he was on. He looked confident, and for the first couple of rounds he held his own.
Late in the fourth round, Ortiz forced Mayweather into the corner and threw a flurry of punches. And then, out of nowhere, Ortiz pulled a Mike Tyson.
Ortiz launched his head at Mayweather’s chin.
It was one of those bonehead moments in sports that people don’t forget, such as Bill Buckner’s ground ball or Tony Romo’s bobbled snap.
The head-butt prompted Referee Joe Cortez to deduct a point from Ortiz and signaled the beginning of the end.
After the deduction, Cortez brought the fighters together and mouthed, “time in.”
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Ortiz went in to give Mayweather a hug, and Mayweather responded with a slap-punch to Ortiz’s face and a straight-right knockout blow that left the ref, fans and, most importantly, Ortiz dazed and confused.
It happened so fast that it took Cortez a couple of seconds to react and start the 10-count.
And that’s all she wrote.
A fight that had potential to live up to its hype ended in a way I would expect a WWE pay-per-view to end.
It almost felt scripted. Boxing found a way to cash in on a rematch and built up the eventual Mayweather fight against Manny Pacquiao more than it already has.
Ortiz’s illegal head butt and Mayweather’s legal sucker-punch robbed fans of an instant classic, and gave the fans another end to a fight that left a bitter taste in their mouths.
Both boxers came out trying to win Saturday night. Mayweather improved to 42-0, earned $40 million and increased the number of fans who will pay for his next fight in hopes of his first defeat.
Ortiz earned a modest $2.5 million paycheck and will forever say the only reason he lost that fight was because he was caught when he wasn’t looking.
But now, pending a Pacquiao victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in November, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight seems inevitable.
All too often, the hype before a “big” match attracts viewers only to disappoint them.
Maybe this is why the sport is dying.
Maybe this is why UFC has taken over the hearts of America.
