Floyd Mayweather Jr.-versus-Victor Ortiz: Tune-up or tease?
The tune-up, of course, is a widely-held interpretation of Mayweather’s Twitter-delivered announcement that he’ll fight Ortiz on Sept. 17. Mayweather can’t go to the corner convenience store without speculation about whether he’s closer to fighting Manny Pacquiao.
The Ortiz bout is full of reasons to guess Mayweather is once again moving in that direction. Top among them is that Ortiz is a left-hander, making him the perfect vehicle for a test flight before a showdown with the left-handed Filipino Congressman.
I’d like to believe it. I really would. But the guess here is that Mayweather is more interested in a payday than Pacquiao.
Anybody who calls himself Money needs a lot of it to live up to the nickname. By the time Mayweather answers an opening bell against Ortiz, 17 months will have come and gone since he collected a guaranteed $22.5 million for a decision over Shane Mosley.
His bills over that time are only a guesstimate, but if a reported $3.4 million debt to the Internal Revenue Service and betting slips are the fire, lots of cash has been going up in smoke. Mayweather proudly displayed a winning wager for $37,725.75 on a NBA bet in the last tweet that got him any attention. I didn’t see any losing slips in his tweet Tuesday about Ortiz. But I’m betting they are there.
Add to that, there are undisclosed legal bills. He faces four felonies and four misdemeanor charges for an alleged domestic abuse incident with his former girlfriend and mother of his kids. A preliminary hearing in Las Vegas is scheduled for Oct. 20.
Then, there are two misdemeanor assault charges for alleged incidents with security guards. One case is scheduled for trial on Sept.1, also in Las Vegas.
In Ortiz, the shrewd Mayweather has again calculated that he can earn the most money for the least risk. Ortiz won over a lot of fans with his gritty victory Andre Berto. Ortiz is an emerging star, which means he’ll generate pay-for-view business. But he looks to be a fight or two away from being able to contend with the accomplished Mayweather. If Berto could find openings to knock down Ortiz twice, the precise Mayweather figures to find many.
Ortiz will have some apparent advantages, including Mayweather’s long layoff and potential distractions that will force him to divide time and energy between court and gym.
Then, there’s age. At 24, Ortiz is 10 years younger than the 34-year-old Mayweather. Ortiz also won’t surrender any of the size that left Juan Manuel Marquez with no chance in a loss to Mayweather, who looked as if he was at least 160 pounds when he entered the ring after refusing to step on the scales for HBO. Ortiz was reported to be at 165 pounds on the night he beat Berto in a welterweight bout.
Yeah, Ortiz has a few chances. But his skills have yet to mature into the kind of threat that can upset the clever and careful Mayweather.
There’s speculation that Mayweather won’t fight Pacquiao until, or if, the Filipino gets old. Turn that theory upside down, and you might have a reason for facing Ortiz now: Mayweather is fighting Ortiz before he gets better.
If talk about Pacquiao helps sell the fight and thereby generate a bigger cut of the pay-per-view revenue, Mayweather won’t stop it. He’ll play along in another tease that will keep him out of debt and undefeated.
Remembering Genaro Hernandez
Genaro Hernandez lost his fight to cancer Tuesday with the quiet dignity and unshakeable courage that characterized him in and out of the ring.
“He was so damn brave,’’ said longtime publicist Bill Caplan, who accompanied Hernandez, nicknamed Chicanito, on eight trips to and from Houston for treatment during the last few years. “The cancer was in submission, but on the fifth or sixth trip to Houston it was back. Gernaro never complained. Never.
“Through it all, he was as gutsy as he ever was in the ring.’’
Caplan remembered Hernandez’ fight with Azumah Nelson in 1997 in Corpus Christi, Tex. Hernandez was leading on the scorecards when he was hit in the throat after the bell ending the seventh round. Referee Laurence Cole threatened to disqualify Nelson, who held the World Boxing Council’s super-featherweight title.
“If Genaro had stayed on the canvas, he would have won the fight,’’ Caplan recalled. “But he told Cole that he didn’t want Nelson to lose that way. He asked that the fight continue. Cole said OK. Genaro won a split decision.
“I’ve seen a lot of things, but never anything that noble.’’
Caplan started sobbing. He couldn’t say anything more. He didn’t have to.
Funeral services are scheduled for Monday, 11 a.m. (PST), at Resurrection Church, 3324 Opal Street in East Los Angeles. Hernandez was 45.
NOTES ON A SCORECARD
· Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez and Kostya Tszyu will be formally inducted to the Boxing Hall of Fame Sunday in Canastota, N.Y. Here’s hoping the ceremonies will include a Genaro Hernandez memorial.
· Instead of Jobing.com, an NHL Arena, in Glendale, Ariz., super-middleweight Jesus Gonzales’ next fight, scheduled for July 8 against Henry Buchanan (20-2, 13 KOs) of Maryland, has been moved to U.S. Airways Center, the Suns home, in downtown Phoenix. That means Gonzales (26-1, 14 KOs) returns to the scene of his only defeat, a loss by eighth-round stoppage to Jose Luis Zertuche in 2005. Gonzales has long wanted to avenge the loss to Zertuche. It doesn’t look as if he’ll get that chance, but he can alter a record in the only place he’s never been a winner.
