In Round 4, Victor Ortiz threw an intentional headbutt after an intense combination that saddled Floyd Mayweather Jr. on the ropes.
The referee would stop the action to give Ortiz a reprimand.
This gave the all-time great enough time to deck an unguarded and apologetic Ortiz. This knocked out Ortiz and gave Floyd Mayweather another victim in his undefeated record.
Before the fourth round, Mayweather was owning Ortiz through stiff combinations and his fascinating defense. When the fourth round happened, Ortiz ignited a storm, and that overzealousness to defeat Mayweather gave Money the freedom to bang his fist to his head.
Maybe the “keep yourself protected at all times” rule should be taken literally.
When I first wrote about the incident, I thought the cocky Mayweather unleashed a cowardly act... but it was also a legal one. Ortiz might be the face of his division back then but his inexperience against big-time players caused him to lose this match.
Sure, Mayweather won badly... but Ortiz had no business letting his guard down in a sport in which you score points by messing up your opponent's face. Of course, Floyd is going to be unrepentant for the whole thing because Ortiz just broke a cardinal rule.
Anyway, the Manny Pacquiao BOXING fanboy in me stated back then in 2011 that Pacquiao wouldn't get sucker-punched.
Yes, Pacquiao never got sucker-punched in the middle of the ring... although outside of it Pacquiao took too many offensive moves from Mayweather that of course, one of it could get loose and just zap the energy of the Pac-Man.
Mayweather has ducked every situation just to save his undefeated streak. He will resort to different dastardly scenarios just to support his claims as one of the sport’s best.
As I said, Ortiz should have seen this coming and he is the one to blame for this loss.
Because of the sucker punch Mayweather threw, people are putting the Pacquiao versus Mayweather fight on hold so that Ortiz can seek redemption. All of a sudden, Mayweather brought a potential money-drawer in the fray that although this is not as the same magnitude of a Pacquiao-Mayweather match, it has the storylines for people to give a damn about.
Ortiz must be seething right now. He will try his best to stop Mayweather and I wouldn’t be surprised if a ton of people rile him up and offer his services to him just to cream the hell out of the cocky Mayweather.
But then again, maybe Ortiz could give his spot up for Pacman because once the talk of rematch kicks in, then Mayweather could be booked for 2012.
Mayweather-Ortiz... part two.
Returning to 2021 and of course, the second salvo of the Mayweather versus Ortiz fight never happened. Floyd would win against seven more opponents before calling it a career in 2015.
Aside from Manny Pacquiao, among his victims are Miguel Cotto, Robert Guerrero, Canelo Alvarez, Marcus Maidana (twice), and Andre Berto.
Mayweather would later make a comeback in the ring to fight Conor McGregor in 2017. He would win the match to cap off his career with a 50-0 record. He would also come out of retirement to face Tenshin Nasukawa in 2018 and Logan Paul in 2020.
When money talks, "Money" listens with an estimated sum of more than 355 million for the three bouts.
As for Ortiz, he would have so-so performances after getting the knockdown from Mayweather. From 2012 to 2021, Ortiz managed to win just three of his eight fights. Two of his four losses came against previous Mayweather victims Berto and Guerrero while his match against Devon Alexander ended in a draw.
Ortiz would find himself in Hollywood with his most notable role, being part of The Expendables 3.