Image via WikipediaFloyd Mayweather Jr. gets beaten up a lot. In the media. On the Internet. By reporters. By fans.
But the erstwhile pound-for-pound champion has yet to be beaten where it matters – in the ring. Mayweather is 41-0-0, which, if you’d forgotten, is three fewer losses and two fewer draws than are on Manny Pacquiao’s record. And if you didn’t know that, just listen to Mayweather speak for a while. He’ll be quick to remind you of it.
The guy is a genius. He may not be the nicest guy you’ll run into and you definitely don’t want to draw the security patrol duty in his neighborhood, but he knows how to grab attention and sell himself.
The genius of this match with Ortiz is that it will come about two months before Pacquiao fights Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12 in Las Vegas. Pacquiao will be in the early days of his training camp for Marquez when Mayweather climbs into the ring to face Ortiz, presumably at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, though that was not announced on Tuesday.
But Mayweather could invite Pacquiao to come to the fight as his guest. He could infuriate Pacquiao’s loyal legion of followers, who become irate if one says anything that could in any way be construed as remotely critical of Pacquiao, by taunting him and telling him to watch how a real professional operates.
Of course, you know he’ll taunt Pacquiao for picking at his leftovers. Mayweather won 11 of 12 rounds against Mosley in 2010 and won all 12 in a demolition of Marquez in 2009. He also beat Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya before Pacquiao did the same.
That will just up the ante for a fight between them, one that would almost certainly shatter every existing record in terms of revenue generated, paid gate and pay-per-views sold.
The thing that makes a Mayweather-Pacquiao match so fascinating is the great contrast in style. Mayweather is a defensive maestro and an underrated offensive fighter whose jab sets up a range of other punches, all of which are delivered with near-perfect precision and blinding speed. Pacquiao is an offensive machine whose overwhelming punching power and killer instinct make up for whatever small defensive holes he may have.
Golden Boy, which is promoting Mayweather, and Top Rank, which promotes Pacquiao, couldn’t have asked for anything better: Pacquiao sitting ringside at Mayweather-Ortiz on Sept. 17 and then Mayweather cheering on Marquez at ringside at Pacquiao-Marquez on Nov. 12.
The fact that Mayweather chose as his opponent Ortiz, a strong, powerful offensive fighter just moving into his prime rather than a fading Paul Spadafora, could be construed as a sign that he’s getting himself ready for the offensive onslaught he may see when he takes on Pacquiao.
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