You could perhaps point to the fight as the most controversial moment from Floyd “Money” Mayweather’s career: the infamous “cheap shot” knockout Mayweather took out a dirty Victor Ortiz back in September of 2011.
The Cheap Shot Heard ’Round the World
As fans may quite vividly recall, Mayweather, after having been on the receiving end of a blatant butt from Ortiz, proceeded to walk to an apologetic Ortiz and crack his unguarded chin with a left and a right, sending his challenger down in a heap.
Ref Cortez in the Crossfire
Ortiz had lost his cool in the round, yet after he had headbutted Mayweather, he was trying to hug the defending WBC welterweight champion. Floyd was having none of it, and he turned Ortiz’s “Vicious” nickname on its head. Some people felt referee Joe Cortez should have disqualified Mayweather, while others felt Ortiz got what he deserved. Mayweather took the “you have to protect yourself at all times” approach.
Now, and you may think this strangely, a documentary will soon be released that looks back on the fight that was dubbed ‘Star Power.’ There are, you could say, so many other, far more interesting fights that could get the documentary treatment.
Still, here, director Dexton Deboree offers us a film called ‘Re-Match,’ and, as reported by Deadline, the piece of work will “provide a fresh look at the events through interviews with the protagonists, archive footage and infographics.”
Apparently, the plan is for “the iconic moment to be understood from multiple perspectives.”
Fans Still Split Over the Finish
But will fans take an interest in the documentary? Mayweather is, of course, a huge name, and as such, anything that is written, or in this case, filmed about him, will find an audience. But is there any mystery regarding Mayweather’s KO of Ortiz? It’s not as though this fight is up there with genuine ring mysteries such as the ‘No Mas’ fight, between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran, or the even more debated ‘Phantom Punch’ fight between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston.
Still, we have been treated to some surprisingly good, entertaining boxing documentaries over the years, and maybe ‘Re-Match’ will join them. At the very least, ‘Re-Match’ will be worth a look, even if we may not actually find out anything we didn’t know about what happened in the ring that night in Las Vegas.