Marcos Maidana stopped Victor Ortiz in the sixth round of a junior welterweight war, but the biggest story of the night may have come from Ortiz's post-fight interview.
After essentially quitting in the sixth round, Ortiz said in his post-fight interview that he had "a lot of thinking to do" about his future, and pretty much seemed to give the impression that he doesn't love boxing and isn't up for getting hit the way he was tonight. Many guys have come up fast without much resistance, and then break down once they find that guy that hits back, hits hard, and tests their mettle. I don't want to speak to his future absolutely or anything, but if I were a betting man, Victor Ortiz is never going to be the fighter Golden Boy wanted him to be. I just don't think he has it in him. I don't say that to be disrespectful -- anyone that heard that interview would have to have the same questions. He put them out there.
The fight itself was a Fight of the Year contender, with both men dropped in the first round and Maidana down twice more in the second. The Argentinian Maidana (26-1, 25 KO) stormed back to drop Ortiz in the sixth, after which Ortiz gave up, went to the doctor, and they quickly called it off with a cut bleeding pretty well and his opposite eye swelling shut.
Ortiz (24-2-1, 19 KO) really does have a lot of thinking to do. He also noted that he's "not going out on his back for nobody," which received a few scattered boos. Not exactly warrior talk to say the least.
If you missed the fight, do catch a replay this week on HBO.
On Showtime from Germany, Arthur Abraham knocked down Mahir Oral five times, three in the tenth round, at which point the Oral corner stopped the bout. Oral fought and fought, and came forward, and never ran, but he was simply outgunned by a better, stronger fighter.
Results from the Top Rank PPV in Atlantic City:
- Juan Manuel Lopez RTD-9 Olivier Lontchi ... Called an ugly fight.
- Jorge Arce KO-3 Fernando Lumacad
- Yuri Foreman NC-3 Cornelius Bundrage, fight stopped on a headbutt cut
- Vanes Martirosyan RTD-6 Andrey Tsurkan; Martirosyan reportedly gave Tsurkan an awful beating
- Off-TV results: Mario Santiago UD-8 Gilberto Sanchez Leon ... Matt Korobov KO-1 Benjamin Diaz
We will have a lot more tomorrow on Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana in particular. This is a pretty interesting developing story to say the least.