Mexican fight fans have been eagerly waiting for the second-coming of Oscar De La Hoya. Alfredo Angulo was beaten by a gatekeeper in an unimpressive Kermit Cintron; Antonio Margarito was discovered to be a cheating bastard. Fight fans are either too timid to place stock in chubby Chris Arreola, or are disinterested in the Heavyweight division all together. And I'm right there with them.
And along comes "Vicious" Victor Ortiz, a young 22 year old Mexican-American fighter with knockout power to go with his southpaw stance; he gave the Golden Boy a black eye in sparring before his "showdown" with Manny Pacquiao.
He has the heart-felt back-story of a boy who was abandonned by his parents and left to raise his siblings himself--too bad he didn't show heart when it mattered most. He has that crest-white smile that reminds us of the Oscar we used to love--too bad he might not have the chin to go with it.
Backed by Golden Boy Promotions and headlining an HBO venue, everything seemed to be going his way. Even the largley Mexican-American fans chanted repeatedly "Or-tiz, Or-tiz!" Hell, he's even in the new Fight Night Round 4 video game with a higher rating than most journeymen of the sweet science.
And then the bell rang. Ortiz showed guts and power, but lacked what mattered most that night against that particular opponent: Marcos Maidana, a knockout artist but relatively unknown brawler fighting in the US for the first time. Read any boxing article before the fight and it was fairly unanimous--this was intended to be a stepping stone for a superstar-to-be.
Even though Maidana was dropped 3 times in 2 rounds, Ortiz admittedly threw out the gameplan and rushed in to brawl with the heavy-handed Argentine. And then Ortiz had to survive the 5th round. Maidana landed wide, power left hooks and overhand rights that reminded me of Max Baer--he might as well been hitting him with a chair.
With Ortiz's back against the ropes, Maidana landed another right hand that seemed to swell the entire left side of Victor's face. And with the right eye cut and bleeding from a left hook minutes before, that Hollywood smile was nowhere to be seen.
Like a runner sprinting off the starting blocks, the Argentine came in for the kill at the start of the 6th. With Ortiz on his kness in under a minute, the fight was over. Not because the ringside physician called the fight--Ortiz, up and walking after his second knockdown, shook his head at the referee in a universal language that screamed, "I want no more of this..."
Max Kellerman deserves an award for his comments following the upset; "More is required of you in boxing than any other sport, maybe more than what is reasonable. But to be great, you have to be willing to go out on your shield, to go out on your back."
In the post fight interview (that has already been countered by a statement released by Golden Boy Promotions), Ortiz went on to say that he's "not going to go out on his back or lay down for anyone."
Maybe Ortiz would be better suited for flag-football. Or badmitton.
I hope that Ortiz can rebound from such a dramatic loss. I hope that he still has fans after being labeled a "coward" and a "quitter" in the aftermath. I hope he digs down deeper next time he's faced with such adversity.
"I'm gonna have to be killed before I lose, and I ain't going to die easy." -Muhammad Ali
And along comes "Vicious" Victor Ortiz, a young 22 year old Mexican-American fighter with knockout power to go with his southpaw stance; he gave the Golden Boy a black eye in sparring before his "showdown" with Manny Pacquiao.
He has the heart-felt back-story of a boy who was abandonned by his parents and left to raise his siblings himself--too bad he didn't show heart when it mattered most. He has that crest-white smile that reminds us of the Oscar we used to love--too bad he might not have the chin to go with it.
Backed by Golden Boy Promotions and headlining an HBO venue, everything seemed to be going his way. Even the largley Mexican-American fans chanted repeatedly "Or-tiz, Or-tiz!" Hell, he's even in the new Fight Night Round 4 video game with a higher rating than most journeymen of the sweet science.
And then the bell rang. Ortiz showed guts and power, but lacked what mattered most that night against that particular opponent: Marcos Maidana, a knockout artist but relatively unknown brawler fighting in the US for the first time. Read any boxing article before the fight and it was fairly unanimous--this was intended to be a stepping stone for a superstar-to-be.
Even though Maidana was dropped 3 times in 2 rounds, Ortiz admittedly threw out the gameplan and rushed in to brawl with the heavy-handed Argentine. And then Ortiz had to survive the 5th round. Maidana landed wide, power left hooks and overhand rights that reminded me of Max Baer--he might as well been hitting him with a chair.
With Ortiz's back against the ropes, Maidana landed another right hand that seemed to swell the entire left side of Victor's face. And with the right eye cut and bleeding from a left hook minutes before, that Hollywood smile was nowhere to be seen.
Like a runner sprinting off the starting blocks, the Argentine came in for the kill at the start of the 6th. With Ortiz on his kness in under a minute, the fight was over. Not because the ringside physician called the fight--Ortiz, up and walking after his second knockdown, shook his head at the referee in a universal language that screamed, "I want no more of this..."
Max Kellerman deserves an award for his comments following the upset; "More is required of you in boxing than any other sport, maybe more than what is reasonable. But to be great, you have to be willing to go out on your shield, to go out on your back."
In the post fight interview (that has already been countered by a statement released by Golden Boy Promotions), Ortiz went on to say that he's "not going to go out on his back or lay down for anyone."
Maybe Ortiz would be better suited for flag-football. Or badmitton.
I hope that Ortiz can rebound from such a dramatic loss. I hope that he still has fans after being labeled a "coward" and a "quitter" in the aftermath. I hope he digs down deeper next time he's faced with such adversity.
"I'm gonna have to be killed before I lose, and I ain't going to die easy." -Muhammad Ali
No comments:
Post a Comment