By Gerardo Gomez: Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz tipped the scales yesterday for their highly anticipated fight later on tonight. Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) came in at 146.5 lbs while Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KOs) weighed in at a ripped 147 lbs.
Tonight’s fight between Floyd Mayweather vs Victor Ortiz should be a great fight while it last. If Victor fights with the same determination as he did against Andre Berto, then boxing fans should be in for a treat. For Victor to have a chance against Mayweather he should attack early and try to make Floyd uncomfortable in the early rounds. Victor has to maintain his discipline and mix his punches. He has to attack the body and throw more jabs than he is used too. Ortiz will have to put a lot of pressure on Mayweather. Victor will also have to learn how to adjust as the fight goes on. Victor will need to try to counter Mayweather and try to box him from the inside. I do see Victor knocking down Mayweather in the early rounds. Mayweather has a tendency to hold on a lot and it will be interesting to see if Joe Cortez will warn Mayweather on this as well as his ability to use his elbows just like it was brought up by Ortiz trainer.
Mayweather needs to do what he does best and that is box. Ring rust may apply to other boxers but not Floyd. He is always in shape whether he is preparing for a fight or not. He demonstrated that ring rust was not an issue when he fought Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley. But, none of those fighters were younger and stronger like Ortiz. Floyd’s defense is amazing. No boxer has been able to get to crack his defense. Mayweather did demonstrate that he can be an aggresive boxer-puncher as he showed that in his last fight against Mosley. Mayweather will need to throw those quick accurate punches and counter punch Ortiz. Mayweather will need to use his ring IQ and his overall experience to outbox Ortiz.
Both fighters mentioned that the fight will not go the distance. I don’t see that happening. I see Ortiz starting strong, knocking down Mayweather in the early rounds but being outbox by Mayweather in the later rounds. If there is going to be a knockout, Ortiz has more chances than Floyd. If this fight is a prelude to what’s to come and if speculation is that Mayweather picked Ortiz to get to Pacquiao then we can expect Floyd will be trying to make a statement with tonight’s fight. He may want to demonstrate that he can also be an aggressive fighter like Pacquaio. If Floyd is serious at facing Pacquiao in the future then we should expect for Mayweather to try to knock out Ortiz. He may try but it is not going to happen.
My pick is a close unanimous decision, maybe split decision victory for Mayweather. The only way I see Victor winning is by knocking out Mayweather and that is not happening. If the fight goes the distance and its a close fight to judge, the judges will be persuaded at the possibility of a Mayweather vs Pacquiao clash in the near future and will give it to Mayweather.