By John Brady: Not many people have been rougher on Floyd Mayweather over the last five years than I have. Does he have his faults? Yes. Does he like to pick and choose his opponents after taking long “vacations”? Yes. Is he involved in an unusual amount of bouts inside the confines of a courtroom? Unfortunately yes.
And does he need to beat Manny Pacquiao to become the undisputed best fighter of this generation? Absolutely. However on this night, September 17th 2011, it’s time to give the man a break let him enjoy his victory and give credit where credit is due.
Mayweather defeated “Vicious” Victor Ortiz tonight for the WBC Welterweight title and followed that up with his second toe to toe battle against Larry Merchant live on the air. The first scrap between “Money May” and “Uncle Larry” occurred in November 2006 immediately after Floyd defeated Carlos Baldomir for the same title Floyd won tonight. The difference between now and that night on November 4th 2006 is that Larry Merchant was justified in criticizing Floyd that night.
Mayweather, although suffering a hand injury during the fight, spent the majority of the 12 rounds versus Baldomir on his horse and cruised his way to a 12 round snoozer against a much lesser opponent. Mayweather has had a history of hand problems in the past so whether or not his pain was legit in the ring that night against Baldomir is really not what’s in question. The point is paying customers were so bored by Mayweather’s performance that they were actually heading to the exits in the 10th round as if it were the 4th quarter of a 30 point NBA blowout, and Larry at least had the right to question Floyd about it. But he did not have that right tonight.
Floyd Mayweather is NOT responsible for Victor Ortiz’s carelessness. Part of becoming the best inside that squared circle is being smart, aware, and capitalizing on your opponent’s mistakes. Unless a referee yells “Break!”, calls time, or you hear a bell it is the fighter’s responsibility to keep his guard up and not rely on anyone else to protect him from another man’s fists. Was Mayweather supposed to send Victor a telegram and let him know that a two piece combination was on its way? A strikingly similar situation happened to Floyd six years ago when he fought Arturo Gatti in one of the best performances of his career. Towards the end of round one Arturo looked towards referee Earl Morton for some help because he thought that Floyd was holding his head down with his forearm. After no response from Morton, Floyd immediately took action and dropped Arturo with a left which was the beginning of the end for Gatti. The best part about that night was Gatti’s reaction during the post fight interview. He admitted that he needed to “protect himself at all times”, and also made a joke out of it stating “I like to learn the hard way I guess”.
The first rule any fighter is taught when he gets to the gym is to “Protect yourself at all times”, and the reason you’re taught that is because if you don’t than you run the risk of getting knocked out. All we got tonight was one fighter who failed to protect himself at all times, and another fighter who capitalized on it. Mayweather did absolutely nothing wrong in tonight’s win over Victor Ortiz just as he did nothing wrong in round one of the Gatti fight. I understand he can be a thorn in the side to the Jim Lampley’s and the Larry Merchant’s of the world, but as professional broadcasters and neutral sportscasters one has to give credit when it’s deserved the same way he or she would give criticism when that’s deserved, and tonight Floyd Mayweather did nothing different than any other smart fighter would have done in his position, and in the process he was able to add another knockout win and belt to his collection.
John Brady- JBrady7183@aol.com