Preview: Floyd Mayweather vs Victor Ortiz
LAS VEGAS, Nev.–We’re about to make our way to the Garden Arena at MGM Grand for Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz. Sadly Stiff Jab didn’t rate a ringside press credential (this time), so our esteemed editor was forced to dip into the editorial fund to purchase a ticket, which wasn’t difficult to find. If yesterday’s weigh-in was any indication, tonight’s crowd should be heavily pro-Ortiz. We were up in the cheap seats but there was still plenty of excitement for an event that often borders on melodrama.
Despite having experienced the gamut of reactions that come from public supporting Mayweather in the past, we were still somewhat shocked by how few Floyd fans showed up at the weigh-in. Granted, the paying audience tonight won’t exactly mirror the heavily Hispanic crowd from yesterday, but it sounded like less than ten percent of the crowd was pro-Mayweather. Erik Morales received a much better reception, but the loudest cheers were saved for Ortiz coming on stage in a Kansas City Royals tracksuit and flexing shirtless with his WBC championship belt.
Vicious Victor deserves his moment in the sun, so we won’t begrudge him his moment of bravado. Especially after Floyd poked and put his hand around Ortiz’s neck during their nose-to-nose staredown, adding some heat to the pre-fight cliche. But this morning’s line at the MGM Grand sportsbook had him a 7-1 underdog to win by knockout and a 10-1 dog to earn a decision. Floyd on the other hand is favored to win by odds of 9 to 5 and 5 to 9 respectively.
As boring as it may be we’re going to have to subscribe to the conventional wisdom: young and powerful as he is, Ortiz does not have the skill level to seriously challenge PBF. His best bet is to catch him early and try to stop the fight before it gets too deep. Perhaps the oddsmakers here know something we don’t, because the odds of Ortiz winning by a 4th-round KO are 15 to 1. The odds of him stopping Floyd in any other round are no better than 40 to 1. Just a thought for you gamblers out there.
The real intrigue for most serious fight fans is whether Mayweather will hold true to his word and go for the stoppage, or be content to pot-shot Ortiz for 12 rounds en route to a points win. We’re picking Floyd to win in the 10th round by TKO. Money Mayweather has shown he thrives on chaos in his personal life and winning in stylish fashion would give him significant leverage for negotiations for a Pacquiao superfight. Victor had trouble with Berto and will probably be well-acquainted with Floyd’s right hand by the end of the night.
Also on tonight’s card: Erik Morales vs late substitute Pablo Cesar Cano for the vacant WBC 140-lb belt. Morales’ experience and granite chin should be more than enough to take the bout, scheduled after Lucas Matthyssee pulled out this week with an injury. Mayweather Promotions prospect Jessie Vargas will take Josesito Lopez at the same weight, while rising British lightweight Anthony Crolla will get a chance to impress the U.S. fans against Juan Manuel Montiel.
The HBO PPV broadcast will also feature a co-located undercard fight from Los Angeles featuring Saul “Canelo” Alvarez defending his WBC junior middleweight belt against Alfonso Gomez. Canelo is a fun fighter to watch and we expect him to win by stoppage in the middle rounds. Unfortunately we won’t have our laptop during tonight’s fights but follow Stiff Jab for live updates via Twitter.