Controversy in Vegas: Mayweather KOs Ortiz
Morales makes Mexican history; Vargas edges Lopez

Ringside by Andreas Hale & Anthony Springer Jr.
Photos by Chris Cozzone

What’s the number one rule in boxing? Defend yourself at all times, no matter what. Floyd Mayweather proved that rule still holds true as he crushed Victor Ortiz with a controversial two-punch combination in the midst of an Ortiz apology for an intentional head butt that obliterated him in the fourth round of their hyped-up clash. The victory earned the undefeated fighter the WBC welterweight crown, but that was merely a sidebar to what took place on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The 34-year-old Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) returned to the ring for the first time in 16 months and questions hovered as to whether or not he would be as sharp as he had been in previous fights. The 24-year-old Ortiz was fresh off of an impressive unanimous decision victory in a candidate for fight of the year against Andre Berto in which he claimed the WBC title. Despite the age difference, Mayweather’s boxing pedigree was far superior to that of Ortiz.

Ortiz (29-3-2) was terribly outclassed from the outset as Mayweather punished him with lead rights and stood toe to toe with the Mexican-American; which was what Mayweather had promised since the fight was announced several months back. Try as he might, Ortiz simply couldn’t catch Mayweather clean with anything. The frustration in Ortiz mounted up as Mayweather turned up the heat in the second and third rounds as he picked off Ortiz’ advances and smashed the young fighter straight right hands and left hooks. It certainly wasn’t the game plan that his trainer Danny Garcia drew up as Ortiz looked somewhat overwhelmed at time and tried to rush Mayweather when all else failed.

The frustration peaked in the fourth round.

With Mayweather landing at will, Ortiz finally mounted up some offense that backed Mayweather to the ropes. Perhaps the anger got to him as Ortiz launched his head directly into Mayweather’s face. Ortiz immediately saw the error in his ways and offered a hug followed by a bizarre kiss on the cheek. Referee Joe Cortez immediately docked a point from Ortiz and all seemed well for the time being

But Mayweather wasn’t over it, not by a long shot.

As Cortez brought the two fighters together to put the issue behind them, Ortiz and Mayweather touched gloves as Ortiz attempted to hug Mayweather again. However, as soon as they broke apart, the five-division champion broke Ortiz down with a left hook, straight right hand combination that dropped Ortiz to the canvas like a sack of bricks. Caught completely off guard by the punches, Ortiz had no chance of getting to his feet and was counted out at the 2:59 mark in the 4th round.

The end was met with a ton of controversy as some in the media thought Mayweather was dirty while others felt Ortiz deserved it for his actions and should have defended himself. Either way, the image of “Bad Boy Floyd” has been taken to new heights. "We touched gloves and we were back to fighting and then I threw the left and right hand after the break," Mayweather said afterwards. "In the ring you have to protect yourself at all times."

Referee Joe Cortez echoed Mayweather’s sentiments while explaining that the newly crowned WBC welterweight champion did nothing wrong. "Time was in, the fighter needed to keep his guard up. Mayweather did nothing illegal," Cortez said.

But despite the controversy, it was evident that Mayweather had not lost a step since severely outclassing Shane Mosley back in May of 2010. This fight was no different as Mayweather was sharp and tactful while keeping Ortiz from landing any major power shots.

With Mayweather making good on his knockout promise and banking what will likely be close to $30 million when the PPV revenue checks top off his $25 million purse, the talks about Pacquiao will most certainly heat up again. The Filipino will face Juan Manuel Marquez for the third time in November. Should that fight go Pacquiao’s way, it is possible that the two athletes could clash as early as May 2012.

Let the countdown begin…again. – Andreas Hale

Morales Makes History With TKO Victory

After a gutsy showing by the Erik Morales of old against Marcos Maidana, “El Terrible” followed up with an equally impressive performance as he scored a 10th round TKO over previously undefeated Pablo Cesar Cano and earned the WBC junior welterweight title. Cano, who was a late replacement for Lucas Matthysse, certainly wasn’t in awe of the future hall of famer as he controlled the early rounds with faster hands and combinations. But the Mexican legend wouldn’t be denied on this night as he plodded forward and sought to make this a war rather than a boxing match.

Initially Cano (22-1-1, 17 KOs) didn’t comply and was comfortable plucking away at Morales with his job for the first three rounds. In round four, Morales (52-7) opted to become more aggressive and brought the fight to Cano. However, a strong showing by Cano nearly nullified Morales’ advances as Cano out hustled the former three-division champion fifth round. But Morales wouldn’t be denied the blood he longed for. A wicked right hand from Morales caused Cano’s eye to begin swelling shot, and the rest of his face wasn’t too far behind. By the ninth round, Morales’ white shorts were turning pink thanks to the pint of blood that Cano’s face began leaking all over the arena. Morales’ punches seemed to begin having more impact, Cano was fading and this was bad news for his corner. In the tenth round Cano went back to trying to pick his spots but Morales was having none of it and continued to land huge bombs that ripped apart Cano’s face as the crowd roared on.

However, by the end of the tenth round the battle would come to a close as Cano’s corner saw no reason to continue the abuse as their fighters face was a mangled mess of meat. The victory made Morales the first Mexican fighter to hold titles in four weight classes. – Andreas Hale

Vargas edges Lopez in close split decision.

It wasn’t pretty. Far from it. Team Mayweather picked up its first W of the night with Jessie Vargas edging a more aggressive Josesito Lopez via controversial split decision. From the outset, Lopez was the bully. The Mayweather prospect found himself repeatedly backed into corners and pushed around. Even as Vargas fired back, he was unable to keep Lopez from pushing forward. The difference was all drive. As Lopez took his foot off the gas, Vargas stepped on the pedal. He outworked Lopez in the middle rounds firing off combination after unanswered combination. The judges scored the bout 94-95, 96-93 and 95-94. “I think it was a good ten round decision,” Vargas said. “[Lopez] was a hell of a fighter. I have nothing but respect for him.” Vargas concedes that he was caught off guard by Lopez’ aggression and ability to take a punch, but credits his corner for making the adjustments needed to get the W. “I think I fell into his game plan a little bit but my corner straightened that out by the end of the fight.” The crowd booed the decision loudly. – Anthony Springer Jr

Jones batters Ouali

Mayweather Promotions suffered yet another setback on the undercard as Said Oauli was pulverized by Carson Jones in a seven round, one sided affair. Before the doctor mercifully halted the bout, Oauli’s face and body turned into something resembling raw meat. Heavy leather from Jones shut the right eye of his foe, who miraculously managed to keep up the trash talk in between rounds. Jones ripped a series of left-right hooks to the body and dropped Oauli in the fourth with a combo. – Anthony Springer Jr

Clay and Butler display no defense in sloppy slug fest

In lightweight action, Kryone Butler pitched a shutout over Cassius Clay in a four round fight devoid of defense. The two men blocked punches with their faces over the course of the bout. 40-36 across the board for Butler, who made his professional debut. – Anthony Springer jr

Stevenson flattens Savage

Adonis Stevenson made short work of Dion Savage, ending the fight via TKO at 1: 57 in the opener. The Haitian born boxer punished the body of Savage with a relentless attack. Savage was unable to mount much offense and was floored with a left uppercut. A final flurry from “Superman” in the corner forced referee Tony Weeks to halt the bout. – Anthony Springer Jr

Crolla Scores Split Decision

Manchester’s Anthony Crolla earned a split decision victory over Juan Manuel Montiel in a fight that was closer on the scorecards than it should have been. Crolla’s exceptional boxing ability marked up Montiel pretty bad throughout the fight. However, judges scored it much closer with scores of 77-75 & 78-74 for Crolla and 77-75 for Montiel. With the victory Crolla improves to 22-2 while Montiel drops to 6-5-3. – Andreas Hale

Periban Upends Smith

In the first bout of the evening, Marco Antonio Periban (15-0, 10 KOs) remained undefeated by scoring an eight round unanimous decision against the durable Dhafir Smith (24-22-7) in super middleweight action. Most may remember Smith for his upset victory against Jeff Lacy last December, but he was unable to muster up much of anything aside from a one sided drubbing from the active Periban who took the unanimous decision with scores of 80-72 and 79-73 (twice). – Andreas Hale

Bonus photos