Floyd Mayweather Jr. remained unbeaten with a controversial KO over Victor Ortiz at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. By the time the night was over, boxing received yet another black eye.
With about ten seconds left in the 4th round of the welterweight bout, Ortiz backed Mayweather into the corner and wailed away. At the end of the flurry, Ortiz threw in a head butt, lunging forward and catching Mayweather on the chin.
Referee, Joe Cortez called time out and took the fighters to the center of the ring where he motioned for the judges to 
deduct a point for the infraction. This is where it got uglier.
While Ortiz looked to be apologizing to Mayweather and Ortiz was looking away at the judges, Mayweather threw a left hook followed by a right, flooring the unsuspecting Ortiz.
Cortez, looked clueless to what happened, stepped over and counted out Ortiz ( (29-3-2, 22 KOs) and Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) suddenly had another victory.
The crowd booed and showed disapproval of this debacle; it was a disaster. Mayweather appeared to hit Ortiz before the fight officially continued and Cortez, probably too shocked and confused by the moment, went through the motions and counted out Ortiz.
What happened in the ring was bad enough but it’s the post-fight interview between Larry Merchant of HBO and Floyd Mayweather that added even more embarrassment to the night.
The controversial Mayweather got aggressive with Merchant after the analyst rightfully questioned him for throwing the cheap-shot:
“You never give me a fair shake….you don’t know shit about boxing…”
Merchant, who just turned 80 years old in February, responded:
“If I were fifty years younger I would kick your ass…”
Boy would a lot of people love to see that.
Used with permission of the author.
Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.
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