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| Floyd Mayweather Jr. (L) of the U.S. watches as WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz, also of the U.S., falls to the canvas during their title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, September 17, 2011. REUTERS/Steve Marcus |
It was a controversial finish to the much-hyped fight, which was Mayweather's 1st boxing match in 16 months.
In the pivotal 4th round, Ortiz was able to trap Mayweather against the ropes but headbutted him, causing referee Joe Cortez to deduct a point and separate the fighters.
After being warned by the referee, Ortiz went over to apologize Mayweather, even hugging his opponent.
But after the hug, Mayweather unloaded a 1-2 on Ortiz, catching him with a left hand and dropping him with the right. Ortiz was unable to respond to the 10-count.
The still undefeated Mayweather then took advantage of the opening given to him by Ortiz, who was seemingly listening to the referee's instructions. His hands were noticeably hanging on his side.
With Ortiz not protecting himself, Mayweather unleashed the combination on him.
"I hit him with a left hook, and a right hand, and that ended the bout," Mayweather said after the match.
Mayweather said that the headbutt was a "dirty" move from Ortiz.
"He did something dirty when it was his corner who said I was dirty," Mayweather said, referring to Ortiz' trainer Danny Garcia, who had commented that Mayweather used his elbow excessively.
In the earlier rounds, Ortiz was more aggressive and was able to push Mayweather against the ropes.
Mayweather was able to parry, however, and block most of Ortiz' s punches, and used his jab to measure Ortiz for straight rights.
Ortiz was unable to counter Mayweather's right hand and was consistently getting hit by the more experienced fighter.
"I apologized to him," Ortiz said in the post-fight interview. "I am not a dirty fighter."
"I took the break by the referee and I obeyed exactly as I was told. And then, boom, he blindsided me," Ortiz added. "There was a miscommunication with the referee but nobody is perfect, and this was a learning experience."
The referee Cortez said that he had already re-started the bout, and the Mayweather's knockout punch was legal.
"Time was in," Cortez said. "The fighter needed to keep his guard up. Mayweather did nothing illegal."
Mayweather showed little trace of ring rust, even after a 16-month break from boxing.
Ortiz' record drops to 29 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws.
Co-main event
In the co-main event held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, WBC junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez of Mexico defeated Alfonso Gomez to retain his title.
Alvarez scored a 6th round technical knockout of Alfonso to jack up an undefeated record to 38-0, with 28 knockouts.
Gomez was more active than Alvarez in the initial rounds, and was landing more punches against the Mexican champion.
Near the end of the 6th round, Alvarez tagged Gomez with a right hand that stunned him. Alvarez then went for the kill and pinned Gomez against the ropes, battering him with hard shots, causing the referee to stop the fight.
Undercard
In the undercard, Erik Morales became a world champion anew after stopping Pablo Cesar Cano in 10 rounds.
Morales became the first fighter to defeat Cano, and in the process, won the WBC junior welterweight championship.
Both fighters started out slowly, with Morales feeling out the younger Cano, who was a late replacement after his initial opponent, Lucas Mathysse, bowed out due to illness.
By the 9th round, Cano was bloodied and his eyes were closed after eating up punches from the more experienced Morales. The fight was stopped at the end of the 10th.
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