Mayweather To Rematch Victor Ortiz Following ‘Controversial’ Stoppage

The referee called time, warning Ortiz before they touched gloves. As they touched gloves, Mayweather landed a right hook and a straight left on Ortiz, ending the fight. Ortiz failed to protect himself at ‘all times.’ Larry Merchant was not impressed with Mayweather’s conduct. In the post-fight presser, the boxer lashed out at the commentator.

Mayweather Reacts

“You never give me a fair shake. So I’m gonna let you talk to Victor Ortiz, alright? I’m through. They can put somebody else up here to give me an interview. HBO need to fire you. You don’t know…[anything’ about boxing. You ain’t…[nothing]. Everybody is tired of Larry Merchant. He said if he was 50 years younger, that he would…[beat me up] “All of these boxing experts – how can you be a boxing expert if you never had a fight before?” Mayweather said

This is the eighth exhibition Mayweather has held since  2018. His last pro fight was a stoppage win over Conor McGregor, taking his record to 50-0. Mayweather has repeatedly said he does not want to fight professionally again, given the large amounts of money he earns from having exhibitions. While his name still holds weight, Mayweather’s last exhibition against John Gotti III raised mass controversy.

The fight was called off after both men repeatedly used offensive language during the fight. After that, Gotti began swinging at Mayweather, who covered up. The entourage from both sides got involved, with a melee breaking out in the crowd. Mayweather will hope to avoid a similar controversy. Ortiz retired from boxing in 2022 after beating Todd Manuel via a unanimous decision. His record stands at 33-7-3. He is still very fresh at 37 years of age.  He has a reason to run things back based on his prior comments following the loss. 

Ortiz Responds

“What I find unfair is that Floyd gave Marcos Maidana one fight and then a rematch. I didn’t have to give Floyd a chance to fight me when I did, with the belt on the line. I could’ve cherry-picked my opponents but I wanted to take on the so-called pound-for-pound champ.

“People that had never seen me fight before remember me as the kid he couldn’t stop. I know that’s why he went for a dirty knockout. I was too much for him and the only opportunity for him to stop me was when I wasn’t expecting him to. … Floyd can say what he wants about his money but, as a fighter, I know that fight and my face keeps him up at night when the cameras are off,” Ortiz stated