Floyd Mayweather Jr. was held back by team after almost starting fight with interviewer following controversial win

Mayweather Jr. scored most controversial win over his career after headbutt debacle

Following wins over the likes of Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, Mayweather Jr. was then booked to take on Ortiz for the WBC welterweight title.

At one of their several pre-fight press conferences, things got heated between the two and at one point, Mayweather Jr. even grabbed Ortiz by the neck, almost sparking a brawl.

The first three rounds went the way of ‘Money’ Mayweather who used his speed advantage to control the opening rounds.

However, in round four controversy struck after Ortiz finally began finding some success with some big shots before pushing Mayweather Jr. into the corner.

The champion then landed a big intentional headbutt, opening up a cut on the inside of Mayweather Jr’s lip. The referee immediately stepped in to halt the action and reprimanded Ortiz, deducting a point.

Soon after, Ortiz acknowledged the fact he committed a foul and went to hug Mayweather Jr. and even appeared to kiss him on the cheek.

The referee then motioned the fighters back together and seemingly resumed the fight without putting them back in a neutral corner. The two touched gloves and Ortiz went to give Mayweather Jr. another hug.

As Ortiz let go and went to break away, the referee wasn’t looking at the fighters as he was motioning towards the timekeeper to restart the clock, and Mayweather Jr. landed a huge left hook which left Ortiz puzzled.

As Ortiz looked towards the referee, Mayweather Jr. landed a huge right hand on the end of it, knocking him out and resulting in a controversial end to the fight.

Mayweather Jr. almost started fight with interviewer after fight

After such a controversial ending to the fight, fans were eager to hear Mayweather Jr’s side of it, but things progressively got worse for him after he attempted to explain himself.

“I got hit with a dirty shot and it’s protect yourself at all times. I hit him with a left hook and right hand and that ended the bout,” Mayweather Jr. told Larry Merchant in the ring.

“You never give me a fair shake, you know that? So I’m gonna let you go and talk to Victor Ortiz, I’m through. Put someone else up here and give me an interview. You never give me a fair shake, HBO need to fire you, you don’t know s— about boxing,” Mayweather Jr. told Merchant as the two began to get face to face.

“What are you talking about? I wish I was 50 years younger and I’d kick your a–,” Merchant bravely told Mayweather Jr. as his team dragged him away.

Fortunately, nothing came from the altercation between Mayweather Jr. and Merchant and the champion exited the ring.

Years after the fight, Ortiz admitted that he shouldn’t have listened to his coaches who told him to headbutt Mayweather Jr.