By Samuel Rivera: In my pre- fight article I wrote that I envisioned three scenarios in which I thought Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KOs) could win last night, the first being Ortiz catching Andre Berto (27-1, 21 KOs) early, the second Ortiz out boxing Berto, and the third (which I stated was highly unlikely to happen) was Ortiz outlasting Berto in a dog fight (The crow never tasted so good).
In turns out it was a combination of all three scenarios that lead to an Ortiz victory, especially the third one! Ortiz caught Berto early in the first round, then he showed that he was the superior fighter and boxer of the two, and finally to the surprise of most pundits (myself included) went on to out fight Berto in a “dog fight”.
Ortiz always had the physical gifts (speed, power, and size) to beat Berto and pretty much anyone under 147, what he didn’t have post Maidana was the warrior attitude or to put it bluntly (as most of us questioned) his fighting heart.
Ortiz however fueled by the criticism he endured for two years, and (perhaps) the fact that his promoter Oscar De La Hoya had relegated him to third string behind Alvarez and Khan, as demonstrated by Oscar going to England to support Khan in a showcase fight, (while leaving Ortiz on his own in a meaningful world title fight) pushed the young Oxnard resident to fight harder than ever, in a redeeming effort in which finally his heart and mental fortitude matched his overwhelming physical gifts.
Ortiz found his warrior spirit in the first round as he knocked Berto down and kept the pressure on him for the ensuing rounds even after a suffering a second round Knockdown himself. Then something interesting happened in round six (my round of the year so far) it was as if the boxing gods wanted to give Ortiz a chance to fully redeem himself of the Maidana debacle by putting him in an eerily similar situation.
On that fateful sixth round Ortiz was smashed by a Berto Haymaker that twisted his head around, it was an awful punch the best punch that the confused and hurt Berto would throw in the entire night, Ortiz went down….hard! It was here were Ortiz found his courage (In the same round in which he quit against Maidana), not only did he get up from the knockdown but he endured the mandatory Berto onslaught and then he landed a left hook at the end of the round that prompted Manny Steward to scream “Oh my God!” in delight as Berto went down. Redemption was complete.
Ortiz went on to out fight and out work Berto to the very end of the twelfth round and was justly awarded the unanimous decision. Ortiz now holds the WBC welterweight strap and seems to be in line for many big fights in the future…he finally lived up to his potential. Marcos Maidana is a beast…
Notes-
Juan Manuel Lopez (30-1-27 Kos) lost by TKO in the 8th round to Orlando Salido (35-11-2-23 Kos), in a fight in which he looked listless and weight drained, Salido turned on the pressure and Juanma took a beating that prompted referee Roberto Ramirez Jr. to stop the fight.
The stoppage was bad as Juanma had earned the right to go out on his shield by fighting bravely and he wasn’t given that honor. However that being said there was no way Juanma would have won that fight as he had no zap on his punches and Salido was seemly getting stronger as the fight went on.
Juanma however wanted to go out like a true warrior and the referee stole that opportunity from him, in what was the latest upset in what has been two weeks of shocking upsets one after the other. Bob Arum most be praying that the upset fever stops before his prized Pacman Pacquiao enters the ring against Mosley…
Talking about Bob Arum, I guess he blew it by not putting the Lopez vs. Gamboa fight on when he had the chance.
Samuel Rivera can be contacted at: ricanxian@hotmail.com