Floyd Mayweather Sr and Amir Khan Defend Mayweather Knockout of Victor Ortiz
by Scott Christ on Sep 19, 2011 6:42 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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TMZ caught up with Floyd Mayweather Sr, the once-again-estranged father of superstar fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr, and despite their incredible recent differences, the father says the son did nothing wrong in his controversial knockout of Victor Ortiz on Saturday night:
"First of all, Ortiz headbutted Floyd and that was obviously intentional. If you re-watch the fight, you can see that right after they apologize to one another, the ref OK's them to fight."
"Floyd did the right thing -- the number one thing they will tell you in fighting is to ALWAYS protect yourself ... The way Floyd ended the fight was 100% fair."
I think this is actually what most people are saying at this point, or at least most rational people. The argument now isn't whether or not it was fair or legal, because by the book it was legal, and thus in its most base way, it was fair.
The question is more ethical, I guess. Should Floyd have taken advantage of a fighter who clearly was not paying attention? Was the bad sportsmanship itself (and it was bad sportsmanship without question) a big enough reason to rage over what happened? I don't think it is, but then I'm not as high on "sportsmanship" as some people. I'm just not. This isn't Little League.
Here's what Amir Khan said to RingTV.com:
"[E]ven when he was hit with the first shot, the left hook, you could see Ortiz looking over at the referee -- maybe thinking it was a foul and that he hadn‘t said, ‘box on' -- whereas really his hands should have gone straight up and he should have defended himself.
"Just before the knockout, Ortiz went in with his head. The reason he did that was because he was frustrated at not getting through the defenses of Mayweather. He had to try and hit him somehow. In a way, I think that's when Mayweather thought, 'right, this is fight night and, you know what, I am going to teach this kid a lesson'."
Khan may well be Mayweather's next opponent, should the British fighter get past Lamont Peterson on December 10. He intends to move up to welterweight after that, and Mayweather vs Khan has already been discussed by both sides, with heavy interest each way.
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I’m reasonably certain that I am reasonably rational. Ethics is not “Little League;” ethical behavior is a matter of knowing what is right and wrong.
Mayweather was wrong, in my view, because even if your opponent, whether in boxing or in debate, does or says something unethical, if you are aware of the character of the act or statement, you can at least return something better.
I don’t think this is irrational. You’re not saying Mayweather cheated. Just that he did something unethical that you think was wrong.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Sep 19, 2011 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes. I feel rather strongly about this.
I think that ethical behavior in the heat of something like a fight is not Little League; I think it’s very Big League.
Keeping one’s head while everyone else is losing theirs is an admirable quality of character.
I don’t expect sportsmanlike behavior all the time and don’t think what Mayweather did was wrong. He’s done it before (Mosley, Gatti) and similar situations happen in other sports, though generally speaking no one gets punched. I do expect, however, the official in charge to control that atmosphere. I’m not saying I want to see streetfights (I really, really don’t), and that’s where the third man comes into play. Mayweather saw an opening and took it.
As for the Little League comment, all I mean is that I don’t expect everyone to be nice and lovable. There are millions of dollars at stake here. A fighter like Mayweather will always take that (entirely legal, if ethically questionable) advantage. Whether or not you can stomach that is, I suppose, part of whether or not you can stomach Mayweather.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Sep 19, 2011 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions
I understand your points, and I entirely agree about the third man factor.
For the rest, well, we’ll just disagree.
I think you’re mistaking honor for ethics. It’s not honorable to hit a man with his hands down, but tit-for-tat is an ethical way to play a zero-sum game.
After the headbutt, Floyd decided to throw punches as soon as was legal during a boxing match. Sure, it would have been more honorable to wait for Ortiz to put his hands up, but Ortiz proved to be a dishonorable opponent, and could rightly expect to be treated in kind.
Dan Raphael has also came out and defended Mayweather
And he is always critical of Mayweather. He said Mayweather was 100 percent right in clocking Ortiz, especially after the headbutt that Ortiz started the fiasco with.
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At this point,
WIth the exception of Arum, has anybody in the industry come out criticizing Mayweather?
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Oscar, but he added that he felt both fighters looked good and there should be a rematch.
Every single fighter I’ve seen says they’d have done the same thing, or that it was Ortiz’s fault (or Cortez’s). Pacquiao and Roach called it unsportsmanlike, but neither were “disgusted.”
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Sep 19, 2011 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions
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