BIGGEST “REAL” FIGHT OF THE YEAR
Mayweather vs. Arturo Gatti
San Francisco, CA- While Manny Pacquiao has dined on “fast food” type of fighters, meaning hamburgers for his last three encounters, Floyd Mayweather has had out of the ring issues with Pacquiao suing him, verbally assaulting a security guard where he lives, among other things, and all the while he hasn’t fought in 16 months. That being said, inactivity has affected some of the sport’s great fighters. Either the training after the layoff was insufficient to reawaken their world class skills, or as in the case of most fighters, especially ones in their 30’s, they simply lost it, got old overnight and come fight time were unable to deliver the goods.
ORTIZ IS THE DEFENDING CHAMPION HERE!
While some might say that Floyd Mayweather is the “best fighter in the world,” he will be challenging Victor Ortiz for the WBC 147 lb. title he took from the vastly overrated Andre berto earlier this year. In a fight where both fighters hit the deck, Ortiz’ relentlessness was the key factor that carried him to victory. With a record of 29-2-2, 22 KOs, people point to the fact that Victor has two losses, the first was by disqualification when he hit an 11-9 journeyman in Corey Alarcon in 2005, after the referee had tried ti separate the two. The only real loss on his ledger was to the gritty Marcos Maidana in June 2006, a TKO 6 defeat in which both men were down in the fight.
SOME CALLED VICTOR A QUITTER!
Although he was cut and busted up, many people believe that Ortiz could have continued against Maidana, in a fight in which he was ahead on all three scorecards when he seemingly resigned. It should also be noted that this match was at 140 lbs., where Ortiz said he was “weight drained” and the move to 147 has, in his words, been a God send. In Maidana’s case, he went on to lose to Amir Khan for the WBA 140 lb. title.
FLOYD IS NOTHING LIKE MAIDANA
Mayweather, 41-0, 25 KOs, and as previously mentioned has not fought since May of last year, then winning a UD 12 over Shane Mosley.
In the second round, Shane threw a right hand that buckled Mayweather a bit, but from that point forward was never in any danger of losing, cruising to losing one round on two cards, and two per the third judge.
ODDS & PREDICTION
I am posting 4-1 odds here favoring Mayweather. Although Victor is ten years younger, unless he can turn this into a physical “beat down type of fight, he has no chance to outbox the fluid-like Mayweather. Should Vicotr get desperate, and go at Floyd with recless abandon, this could result in two different outcomes. The first being he overwhelms Floyd and beats him up. The second is that he walks into something, much in the manner Ricky Hatton did, and succumb to clean shots being thrown from different angles from Floyd. The third scenario has Floyd winning a unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
EXPECTING MAYWEATHER TO STOP TIME & ORTIZ IN HIS TRACKS!
Felling that Mayweather has “not gotten old” overnight, that his skills are good enough to still outbox the younger and possibly hungrier tiger, I don’t see Ortiz coming out the winner here. Thus, if I were betting on this fight, the only thing that would keep me from betting Floyd is the long odds, for I don’t like putting up more than $3 to win win $1.
RICKY’S SPORTS THEATER HAS FIGHT ON BIG SCREENS IN HD!
That being said, fight fans in the SF Bay Area can see the fight on the big screen at Ricky’s Sports Theater on Hesperian Blvd., a block off East 14th St. in San Leandro, CA. Admission is far less than the cost of the PPV and you will get a real fight ambiance at the #2 ranked sports bar in America, according to Sports Illustrated magazine. First fight is at 6 PM PT. For more info go to www.Rickys.com
Pedro Fernandez