Wishful Thinking

How Sweet it Would Be!

"Most Hated!"

I wrote about "Pretty Boy" Floyd "Money" Mayweather" in the Silent Science Part I, and I also covered the "Vicious" Victor Ortiz vs. Andre Berto fight. Mayweather attended the Ortiz vs. Berto fight and I made the comment that I bet Mayweather is jealous because he could never deliver a fight as exciting as that one. Well, Mayweather must have been thinking along the same lines, because now he is fighting Ortiz. Mayweather even admitted watching that fight is what got him so excited, it made him want to come out of retirement and fight again.

So, to make an exciting welterweight championship fight Mayweather had to find an exciting opponent, Ortiz. The fight will take place on Pay-per-view on September 17th Saturday night. Most average sports' fans will not even get to see the fight, no matter how good it is(which is another problem with boxing I have wrote about in the past).

I wish Ortiz could beat Mayweather I think that would make this fight legendary and help the sport, but I do not see it happening. Mayweather is 41-0 and is just too good. That is why Mayweather is bad for the sport of boxing. Floyd Mayweather is loud mouth, fast talking jerk who acts like spoiled brat most of the time. The problem is Mayweather can back it up. In most experts' opinions Mayweather is the most talented fighter in the sport with a work ethic to match.

Some would say, what is the problem, fast talking, talented, hard working fighter sounds like Muhammad Ali. Ali is considered the greatest sport figure in history by some, but the comparisons end there with Ali and Mayweather. When Ali was fighting he was filling up arenas with fans to see him fight. Mayweather is lucky to put few thousand butts in the seats at an Indian Casino unless he fights a big name. Boxing is just not what it was at one time and Mayweather is just plain boring. Great fighters who are good and boring are one of boxing's' biggest problems.

I would love to see Ortiz holding all the belts at the end of the fight. I just don't think it will happen. It is wishful thinking for me to think Ortiz can beat the older but quicker Mayweather. Ortiz, who is 24 years old, is the younger, stronger, and a southpaw. Mayweather who is now 34 years old has had trouble with stronger fighters in the past, as well as southpaws. Still, the cliche is speed kills and it true most of the time. Plus, Mayweather is very ring smart and has always been able to figure out his opponents before the fight is over.

I think Mayweather will land some quick punches and then run and hide the entire fight. Ortiz will never be able to hit him and if Ortiz takes some chances and tries to land some good shots he may end up on the canvas. Ortiz is easy to hit and has been known to good down in past fights. Even in the Berto fight Ortiz went down and that was his defining victory. My guess is that Mayweather will take few chances himself. It will be up to Ortiz to make it a good fight, but that may result Ortiz opening himself up to Mayweather's hand speed. So, anyway you slice it seems to spell bad news for Ortiz and most likely boxing fans as well.

Victor Ortiz is great underdog story. Ortiz is likeable and has some star qualities He is what boxing is all about. Ortiz came from nothing, he was an orphan for most of this childhood, after his parents abandoned him. Ortiz punishes his opponents and absorbs punishment in the process. Ortiz is a fight fans dream come true. Most sport's fans would likely respond favorably to a champion like Ortiz. Ortiz would be great for boxing, but I just don't see him winning. Well, at least as a boxing fan I can hope that Ortiz can land that one big shot and shock the world(Mayweather has never been down). Mayweather will most likely win and that is good for him and bad for boxing.

The Silent Science Part 1

Boxing is known to those who love it as the sweet science, but it is truly a dying art or if you will, it has become a silent sport.

Most peoople have no idea that in less than a month a huge fight is about to take place. Even worst than that if they heard the names Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosely, they would not even know that this event is a big deal. Only Pacquiao and Mayweather would raise eyebrows, but even that would not appeal to the average sports fan.

Who would buy the pay-per-view?

I would, but I am one of the few silent fight fans left. Some people even call us the fight cult. A lot of diehard sports fans tell me that boxing is boring and that all the fighters do is hold each other. Boxing is hard to watch until you understand it. American Football would be hard to understand if you had not grown up with it, just ask the rest of the world.

And here lies the problem, (a little history lesson if you don't know). Boxing and the people in and around, it got greedy in the 80's. People like Don King began to bleed the sport. Big fights became pay-per-views. If you don't have HBO or Showtime (maybe) you don't know boxing. ESPN has all the C and D fighters or guys who have 1 or 2 wins and are just getting started. Boxing is like watching minor league baseball and that will not sell to the mainstream sports fans, unless boxing has a thirsty Thursday.

Long story short, the common sports' fan has no idea what is going on in boxing and even diehard sports' fans don't care.

This is sad because I watched a fight Saturday night that was as good a sporting event as I have seen in a long time.

People who love team sports love to talk about the one on one match ups that make a game great, and there are too many match ups in all sports to name, just fill in the blanks _______ vs ________. Well that is what boxing is all about. Two men enter and only one man leaves... a winner.

The Andre Berto vs. Victor "Vicious" Ortiz fight was no exception. These guys had it all on the line and the underdog Ortiz emerged as the winner. Both men were awesome and Berto lost for the first time, but gained fans even in defeat, showing heart, finishing the fight, after being knocked down in the first round!

If you consider yourself a sports purist and didn't see this fight you truly missed out. NBA may be good, but the back and forward action of the NBA, has nothing on the Berto vs. Ortiz fight, with a handful of knockdowns in a fight that went 12 rounds. I will not recap the fight, if you want to check it out, access this article at http://insidefightweek.com/?cmpid=ABC842.

This fight should be the fight of the year and both men put an amazing show, and for that I thank them.

The Silent Science remains sweet, too bad other sports' fans missed it!




Part II coming soon...