The Mayweather vs. Ortiz match up is intriguing to me mainly because Ortiz is young. When you are young especially as a boxer you just don’t know enough to be worried about anything.
That isn’t just in boxing thing that is life in general.
Before Shane Mosley stepped into the ring with Manny Pacquiao his mind was more on survival than winning. As you get older your own mortality becomes more in the forefront of your mind.
I think Ortiz isn’t just looking to collect a check, I think he truly believes he can beat Floyd Mayweather and has no fear of him. That makes him a dangerous opponent.
With that being said this is more about Floyd than Ortiz. Mayweather is 34 years old now and his boxing skills are based off defense, timing and uncanny instincts.
With boxers like that when the skills go, they go quickly.
You can look at his long layoffs two ways.
Either it is diminishing his skills or preserving them. He has had two fights in two years. He whitewashed Juan Manuel Marquez and after a shaky 2nd round he whitewashed Shane Mosley (a much more motivated Mosley).
With such a small body of work it is hard to say exactly how Floyd will enter the ring on September 17th.
If he is still the same Floyd he should handle Ortiz easily, if not he will be in a fight. I think Mayweather is gauging where he is at physically by fighting Ortiz to see if he wants to fight Pacquiao.
If he has problems with Ortiz even if he wins don’t ever expect a Pacquiao fight, if he dominates, keeps your fingers crossed for a May 2012 mega-bout between Pacquiao and Mayweather.
