| 17 September 2011
It's almost time for the main event of the Star Power pay-per-view as Floyd Mayweather Jr. returns to action after a 16-month layoff to face young WBC welterweight titleholder Victor Ortiz. The MGM Grand in Las Vegas is the venue and the excitement is building.
A video package takes us back through some of Mayweather's triumphs and Ortiz's thrilling victory over Andre Berto earlier this year. Jim Lampley mentions that Ortiz will enjoy a significant weight advantage, as he stepped on the unofficial HBO scale today and weighed 164 pounds while Mayweather only weighed 150.
Christina Aguilera, Magic Johnson, Anna Paquin, Mike Tyson, Sean Combs and Mark Wahlberg are just a sampling of the famous names on hand for the fight. We're getting the Mexican and U.S. national anthems before we get down to business.
The tale of the tape shows that Ortiz is an inch taller but has shorter arms. Ortiz is 10 years younger, which could be an advantage or disadvantage depending on how things play out.
Ortiz comes out first to a good crowd reaction. He goes old school with "We Will Rock You" by Queen before switiching it over to a Mexican song. Ortiz is 29-2-2 with 22 KOs, and he is making his first defense of the WBC welterweight belt.
Mayweather has a black and orange robe that gives off a Halloween vibe. He has rapper 50 Cent by his side, wearing a few of his belts. Appropriately, "Outlaw" by 50 Cent is playing during the ring walk. Mayweather is 41-0 with 25 KOs during his well-decorated pro career.
Joe Cortez is the referee in charge of the action. Michael Buffer handles the official introductions, and we are ready to go for a scheduled 12 rounds of boxing.
Round 1
Mayweather is a little more active right out of the gate than he usually is. Both men land some short shots. Ortiz lands some light lefts and gets whacked with a flush right hand. Ortiz floats around to look for some body shots. Both guys land something on the inside. Mayweather escapes getting trapped along the ropes but has to watch out for a laft hand lead.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Mayweather
Parker: 10-9 Mayweather
Uatu: 10-9 Mayweather
Round 2
Ortiz can't find the range, not that it's a surprise to see that. He does land a left hand, and Floyd has to watch out for a second one. Ortiz lands a glancing right hand on the inside. Floyd retreats to range and picks his spots with the right. Ortiz backs Floyd into the corner but can't land anything flush. He lands a left hook that may have gotten Mayweather's attention. Ortiz tries to press the issue again, and the round ends with wrestling.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Mayweather
Parker: 10-9 Mayweather
Uatu: 10-9 Mayweather
Round 3
Mayweather triples the jab to good effect. Ortiz sneaks in two left hand leads but also eats a hook coming back. Both men try to land straight punches in the middle of the ring, and Floyd scores first. There's another right by Mayweather. Right now CompuBox has Ortiz landing only two punches in this frame. Both guys land single shots in the closing seconds.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Mayweather
Parker: 10-9 Mayweather
Uatu: 10-9 Mayweather
Round 4
Mayweather lands a series of power shots to open this round. Ortiz backs him into the ropes but doesn't throw. Two more shots land flush for Floyd, but Ortiz scores with a right hook. That got the crowd going. Ortiz lands a left to the body and ends up getting tied up. Mayweather returns to his straight right. He lands another one but they don't seem to be fazing Ortiz. Ortiz pours it on in the corner and looks like he head butted Floyd on purpose. The ref stops the fight for a second to talk to Ortiz. The action begins again, Ortiz looks like he is going in to apologize, and Mayweather clocks him with a left hand. Ortiz can't answer the count, and it's over. What a crazy ending!
The winner by KO at 2:59 of Round 4... and new WBC welterweight titleholder... Floyd "Money" Mayweather.
Larry Merchant talks to Floyd, saying the crowd is letting him have it. Mayweather says he got hit with a dirty shot, but it's protect yourself at all times. Floyd tries to justify his actions after they touched gloves. Mayweather tries to turn things around by cursing at Merchant who says, "I wish I was 50 years younger and I would kick your ass!"
Ortiz claims he was just trying to obey the referee and was breaking as he was told. The next thing he knew he was out. Ortiz claims the head butt was not intentional and apologized for it after it happened. Victor says the whole thing was a learning experience and he's not trying to pass the blame for what happened.
Laughing about it later, Merchant says he would not have been able to kick Mayweather's ass 50 years ago, but he would have tried. Larry thinks Floyd went into that tirade to avoid answering questions about fighting Manny Pacquiao.
