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Ortiz vs Berto 2: Victor Ortiz Gets His License, Commission Looks Tough

Surprise! Victor Ortiz has been given a license for his February 11 fight with Andre Berto. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Surprise! Victor Ortiz has been given a license for his February 11 fight with Andre Berto. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

After Victor Ortiz did some interview where he said he'd headbutt people again in the future and break their noses next time, and that he definitely headbutted Floyd Mayweather Jr on purpose on September 17 before getting knocked out for his tough guy posing, the Nevada State Athletic Commission decided he had to appear before them and explain himself before being licensed to fight Andre Berto in a highly-anticipated rematch on February 11 at the MGM Grand.

Today, Ortiz did that, and was granted a conditional, one-fight license by the commission. From RingTV.com:

"The commission conditioned the license, but they granted it, which means that it's limited to one fight. So if Mr. Ortiz does anything improper during the fight with Mr. Berto, he may be subject to a discipline, and his rights for the license would automatically expire," said executive director Keith Kizer.

"On the flip side, if he acts properly, then he would be able to apply for a license for the rest of the year administratively, but he would have to go that additional step. So his license is only good for one fight, and thereafter, he'd have to be reviewed either administratively if he does nothing wrong, or he would have to go before the commission if he does do something wrong."

In essence, Ortiz has to be a good boy against Berto or he could get in troubllllllleeeeee.

But they were never going to flat-out deny him a license. This allows Nevada to look tough, enforce their standards to the degree any standards in boxing are ever enforced, and still make the money on February 11 that this fight will bring in. Soon they'll drag in Floyd Mayweather Jr for one of these games of pretend. He'll probably get a conditional license, too, since it would be odd to give Ortiz a conditional license with possible $100,000 fines for something he said (and says was taken out of context) but then give Mayweather a full, no issues license given all his extracurricular activities.

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