By Paul Strauss: Most fans will be happy and eager to see Floyd Mayweather, Jr. back in the ring on Sept 17th, after a long lay off. More yet will be excited about his choice of opponent in Vicious Victor Ortiz. On the surface, there seems to be all kinds of pluses involved with this one. First of all, Vicious Vic is a hot property right now. He churned up his potential star status in a big way with his great win over favored Andre Berto. He proved several things in that fight. One, it would seem he has grown into a full-fledged welterweight. Two, he also proved his comments after the Maidana loss were nothing more than the result of a young man’s emotional overload after a very tough loss. They meant nothing. Lastly, he got clocked more than once by Berto, and was put down two times. But, his true fighting spirit pulled him up. He mustered up the necessary courage he needed to come back harder than ever and win the fight and the WBC Welterweight Championship.
Undoubtedly, that last thing is a big factor in why he was picked by Little Floyd. No one is saying Little Floyd is a conniving little cockalorum, but it’s also inrefutable that he would very much like to add another belt to his legacy. It is with much certainty, on his part, that he will. He feels very comfortable with this choice of opponent. It’s a given that he watched the Ortiz vs. Berto fight, or at least film of the fight. He saw how Berto was able to score big with a short counter right hand, and he knows that no one can deliver that punch better than him. It won’t be one at a time either.
Vicious Vic’s big weapon was a right hook, followed by an uppercut. He was able to move right in on Berto (whose corner pleaded with him to jab) to deliver this combo without the benefit of much if any jab of his own. Little Floyd knows that will not happen with him. He is masterful in managing distance to his advantage, and if Ortiz should catch Little Floyd a bit flat footed on occasion, he still will be stymied by Floyd’s jab, head movement, or elbow if necessary. There won’t be any walking in by Ortiz or free tee shots.
Victor will also discover that he is not going to be able to muscle Little Floyd like he did at times with Berto. Little Floyd is never out of postion, or off balance. He will turn Victor’s aggression against him. When necessary Little Floyd will tie Victor up so as to negate any positive type of infighting. You can be assured that Victor will also taste a bit of Little Floyd’s shoulder and glove heel right before he eats a short chopping right.
Little Floyd will feint him, and get him to commit with the right hook, which he will turn away from and roll with, as he brings his own left up underneath, either to the liver or chin. If Victor comes out smoking, as he did against Berto, he might get lucky and hurt Little Floyd, but more likely fans will see a quick ending with Little Floyd scoring big with sharp hard counters.. If Vic is more conservative, and foolishly tries to be something he isn’t, then his chances will go out the window, and Floyd will play with him, and the inevitable will just take a bit longer.
Think Victor and majority draw (MD) against Lamont (Powdery) Peterson last year. Then admit to yourself how much more “Havoc” Little Floyd will bring into the newly crowned champion’s boxing life, and all of a sudden you have to admit you’re not so sure this will be such a great fight afterall.