The first fight of tonight's HBO tripleheader is between Victor Ortiz and Antonio Diaz. In an interview before the fight, Ortiz said that in his last fight, he was there in body but not in mind. Max Kellerman asks him what he will do if he finds that he's taking punches. He says he's ready to trade it all and that it's boxing. <
HBO skips the intros. They're in the ring and ready to go.
Round 1
Diaz goes on the offensive first, circling the ring. Ortiz is trying to get a jab in. Diaz eats a jab. Ortiz lands another jab followed by a left hook. Ortiz lands a left and Diaz counters with a right hook. Ortiz misses with a left hook and keeps moving around the ring. Diaz lands a body hook, and the ref tells him to keep his punches up. Diaz lands a hook to the body on the inside. Ortiz lands a jab. Ortiz seems more timid than before his loss. The crowd boos after the bell.
Spartan117: 10-9 Diaz
Round 2
Ortiz tries to get the jab going. Diaz catches him coming in with a right hook to the body. Ortiz lands a straight right that backs up Diaz, but he gathers himself and catches Ortiz with a right hand. Now Ortiz starts to loosen up and lands a great combo upstairs. Diaz throws a right hook to stop the combo. Diaz lands a straight right. Ortiz gets caught coming in again, and Diaz lands a left. Ortiz isn't getting close enough to land any of the power punches for which he's known.
Spartan117: 10-9 Ortiz
Round 3
Ortiz keeps jabbing the gloves of Diaz. The punches aren't even close to landing. Diaz lands a few hooks to the body on the inside. Ortiz gets tripped up by the referee. Diaz gets in a nice combo, but Ortiz counters big and Diaz goes down. Ortiz is trying to close the show. Diaz is hurt. He's moving around and trying not to get tagged. Good round for Ortiz.
Spartan117: 10-8 Ortiz
Round 4
Ortiz is starting to take more chances. He lands a great counter left uppercut. Diaz comes back and lands hooks to the head and body. Diaz lands a wide left hook. Ortiz answers back with a left and a right hook. Diaz tries to get a body shot in and Ortiz counters with a right.
Spartan117: 10-9 Ortiz
Round 5
Ortiz is going back into a defensive style. Diaz lands a good left hook. He catches Ortiz again while Ortiz comes in. Diaz catches Ortiz with a left hook while he's against the ropes. A cut has opened over the eye of Diaz. He tries a body shot. Ortiz counters with a great right hook. Ortiz goes back to the jab to finish out the round.
Spartan117:10-9 Ortiz
Round 6
Nothing going on in the first 30 seconds of the round. A few pawing jabs from Ortiz. Now he lands a jab, then a straight left. Ortiz connects with a straight right. The ref takes a break to look at the cut. It looks pretty bad. The doctor keeps it going. Ortiz is going for the kill now. He lands a great right hook, followed by a left. Diaz is pawing at his eye. Ortiz looks to be landing a big left hand. Diaz gets a good left in and Ortiz lands a left of his own.
Spartan117: 10-9 Ortiz
Diaz's corner decides that the cut is too bad for their fighter to continue. It's over.
The winner by TKO at 0:01 of Round 7, "Vicious" Victor Ortiz.
Posted by spartan117
Showing posts with label victor ortiz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label victor ortiz. Show all posts
30.6.09
Boxer Clothing and Gear - Follow-Up II
As part of my continuing quest to scour the internets for boxer shirts, clothing and such (here's the original post and my first follow-up), I've come across another company I missed up to this point:
Remetee: Based in California, this clothing company was founded by one of the creators of Affliction, and it shows in both the design (skull-heavy) and price (not cheap) of its clothing.
It's also run into some bad luck supporting some talented boxers. Sharp-eyed fans may have noticed Victor Ortiz and the guys in his corner were decked out in Remetee right before he got knocked out by Marcos Maidana. Also this James Kirkland signature shirt probably seemed like a good idea until a few months ago.
Also for sale is a Ricky Hatton shirt (with no skulls!) and an event shirt for Hatton's demolition at the hands of Manny Pacquiao.
Posted by The Franchise
Remetee: Based in California, this clothing company was founded by one of the creators of Affliction, and it shows in both the design (skull-heavy) and price (not cheap) of its clothing.
It's also run into some bad luck supporting some talented boxers. Sharp-eyed fans may have noticed Victor Ortiz and the guys in his corner were decked out in Remetee right before he got knocked out by Marcos Maidana. Also this James Kirkland signature shirt probably seemed like a good idea until a few months ago.
Also for sale is a Ricky Hatton shirt (with no skulls!) and an event shirt for Hatton's demolition at the hands of Manny Pacquiao.
Posted by The Franchise
29.6.09
20/20 Hindsight: When Annointing Someone the Next Big Thing Goes Awry, Plus What to Do About Arthur Abraham
In case you missed Saturday's HBO broadcast of Boxing After Dark, you owe it to yourself to catch a replay. Soon. You won't be disappointed.
Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana threw the concepts of feeling each other out and establishing the jab right out the window, deciding early on to just wing power shots early and often. The ensuing collision lasted six rounds, and three of them (Rounds 1, 2 and 5) made this writer yell out loud even though I was watching the fight alone.
It's not very often that you see someone get knocked down three times in the first round and come back to win by TKO, but Maidana pulled it off. Ortiz brought the more well-rounded game to the fight, but the Argentinian had more heart and the better chin. Those qualities plus a wild yet devastating right hand turned out to be enough (barely) to carry the day.
Much of the analysis over the last day or two has focused on what Ortiz did wrong, that he fought the wrong fight and caved when the going got really tough. There's definite truth in the former and perhaps in the latter as well, though it's always easy for us to demand that fighters show the willingness to get carried out on their shields from the safety of our own seats or couches.
Regardless, it was hard to listen to Ortiz's post-fight interview and not feel some sympathy for how discouraged he sounded. Here was a man suggesting that he might have to think hard about continuing his boxing career - and at all of 22 years of age and two career losses.
The unspoken context was that Ortiz felt disappointed not only in his performance, but that he had let so many other people down. This was a boxer who, despite his youth, was getting a massive push from Golden Boy Promotions to become the sport's next huge star.
It's not hard to see why. As Max Kellerman opined in the aftermath of the fight, Ortiz almost seemed too good to be true: touching personal story, skill and power in the ring, good looks, engaging and well-spoken personality. The phrase "total package" may be a cliche, but if Ortiz doesn't qualify, no one does.
Golden Boy's anxiousness is easy to see too. It's three biggest draws, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley, are all retired or headed that way. A company passing of the torch is in order soon.
Despite all that, we were reminded once again that all of the star-making plans in the world can quickly come apart in the ring. Whether it's Alfredo Angulo's lateral mobility issues or Ortiz's shaky chin, boxing can expose any flaws in its crop of young up-and-comers.
Actually, expose may not be the right word, because we're not talking about guys who are finished products. The conclusion is the same, though: in boxing, it's the results in the ring that will ultimately determine who will be the big names in the sport over the next decade.
It's definitely still possible for Ortiz to be one of those names. Maybe now the hype behind him will die down a bit and he'll be able to get back on track toward that goal with a little less pressure.
ELSEWHERE...
Arthur Abraham didn't exactly thrill the pants off of viewers with his tenth-round TKO of Mahir Oral on Saturday, but he did what he needed to do. He took his time and played defense until he figured out Oral couldn't hurt him, and he turned up the power in the middle rounds until his opponent couldn't take any more.
King Arthur also said all the right things after the fight about wanting to fight in the U.S. against Kelly Pavlik or any of a number of guys at 168, and he even showed some personality. I'm not sure if that was just for show or if his management is the problem, but it would be really nice to see Abraham in some bigger fights while he's still in his prime.
With his high guard and slow starts, he's not the most exciting fighter around, but he certainly goes for the kill when he senses an opening. He didn't deny that he's having a tough time making 160, so a fight with Pavlik would have to be made pretty quickly.
On the other hand, I can see why Team Pavlik wouldn't be chomping at the bit to put their guy in against Abraham. King Arthur has some holes, but it would take a skilled counterpuncher to best exploit them, and that's not really The Ghost's specialty. Since Abraham doesn't have the name value to help sell tickets in the States, it could seem like the risk/reward ratio just isn't there.
So we might be down to hoping Abraham agrees to fight Pavlik in Ohio or simply announces he's headed for super middleweight right away. He might not be the best boxer in the world, but he's good enough that it would be a shame to see him continue to fight in relative obscurity.
Posted by The Franchise
Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana threw the concepts of feeling each other out and establishing the jab right out the window, deciding early on to just wing power shots early and often. The ensuing collision lasted six rounds, and three of them (Rounds 1, 2 and 5) made this writer yell out loud even though I was watching the fight alone.
It's not very often that you see someone get knocked down three times in the first round and come back to win by TKO, but Maidana pulled it off. Ortiz brought the more well-rounded game to the fight, but the Argentinian had more heart and the better chin. Those qualities plus a wild yet devastating right hand turned out to be enough (barely) to carry the day.
Much of the analysis over the last day or two has focused on what Ortiz did wrong, that he fought the wrong fight and caved when the going got really tough. There's definite truth in the former and perhaps in the latter as well, though it's always easy for us to demand that fighters show the willingness to get carried out on their shields from the safety of our own seats or couches.
Regardless, it was hard to listen to Ortiz's post-fight interview and not feel some sympathy for how discouraged he sounded. Here was a man suggesting that he might have to think hard about continuing his boxing career - and at all of 22 years of age and two career losses.
The unspoken context was that Ortiz felt disappointed not only in his performance, but that he had let so many other people down. This was a boxer who, despite his youth, was getting a massive push from Golden Boy Promotions to become the sport's next huge star.
It's not hard to see why. As Max Kellerman opined in the aftermath of the fight, Ortiz almost seemed too good to be true: touching personal story, skill and power in the ring, good looks, engaging and well-spoken personality. The phrase "total package" may be a cliche, but if Ortiz doesn't qualify, no one does.
Golden Boy's anxiousness is easy to see too. It's three biggest draws, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley, are all retired or headed that way. A company passing of the torch is in order soon.
Despite all that, we were reminded once again that all of the star-making plans in the world can quickly come apart in the ring. Whether it's Alfredo Angulo's lateral mobility issues or Ortiz's shaky chin, boxing can expose any flaws in its crop of young up-and-comers.
Actually, expose may not be the right word, because we're not talking about guys who are finished products. The conclusion is the same, though: in boxing, it's the results in the ring that will ultimately determine who will be the big names in the sport over the next decade.
It's definitely still possible for Ortiz to be one of those names. Maybe now the hype behind him will die down a bit and he'll be able to get back on track toward that goal with a little less pressure.
ELSEWHERE...
Arthur Abraham didn't exactly thrill the pants off of viewers with his tenth-round TKO of Mahir Oral on Saturday, but he did what he needed to do. He took his time and played defense until he figured out Oral couldn't hurt him, and he turned up the power in the middle rounds until his opponent couldn't take any more.
King Arthur also said all the right things after the fight about wanting to fight in the U.S. against Kelly Pavlik or any of a number of guys at 168, and he even showed some personality. I'm not sure if that was just for show or if his management is the problem, but it would be really nice to see Abraham in some bigger fights while he's still in his prime.
With his high guard and slow starts, he's not the most exciting fighter around, but he certainly goes for the kill when he senses an opening. He didn't deny that he's having a tough time making 160, so a fight with Pavlik would have to be made pretty quickly.
On the other hand, I can see why Team Pavlik wouldn't be chomping at the bit to put their guy in against Abraham. King Arthur has some holes, but it would take a skilled counterpuncher to best exploit them, and that's not really The Ghost's specialty. Since Abraham doesn't have the name value to help sell tickets in the States, it could seem like the risk/reward ratio just isn't there.
So we might be down to hoping Abraham agrees to fight Pavlik in Ohio or simply announces he's headed for super middleweight right away. He might not be the best boxer in the world, but he's good enough that it would be a shame to see him continue to fight in relative obscurity.
Posted by The Franchise
27.6.09
Ortiz v. Maidana: Round by Round
Time to peel myself away from EA's Fight Night Round 4 to watch some real boxing. Tonight's recently abbreviated card contains Victor Ortiz against Marcos Maidana. This fight is another step in Ortiz's process in becoming a boxing superstar. Golden Boy Promotions is putting a big push behind him to speed up this process. We'll see what he brings to the ring tonight.
The HBO broadcast has just started live from the Staples Center in L.A. It looks like the event has drawn a good crowd. Now HBO runs a feature story on Ortiz's struggles in life.
Still no start of the fight yet from HBO. They're filling some time since the card is only one fight. They now talk about Ortiz's opponent, Maidana.
It looks like things are getting underway now. Marcos Maidana makes his way to the ring first to some boos. This is his first fight in the U.S.
Vic Ortiz comes to the ring now to a Michael Jackson medley. The HBO team tells us that with his passing, Ortiz devoted his ring walk to MJ.
Here we go.
Round 1
Maidana steps forward first and throws a jab, followed by a fast flurry. Ortiz has an EA sponsorship on his trunks. He lands a left hook. Maidana steps forward again and lands two good hooks. Ortiz fires back and drops Maidana with a left. Maidana comes forward and throws one punch and drops Ortiz! Ortiz is back up but he is in big trouble. He holds on to stay up. He doesn't have his legs under him. Maidana is trying to end the show. Ortiz looks better now. The bell rings. What an incredible round.
Spartan117: 10-10
Franchise: 10-10
Round 2
Ortiz looks much better now. He's firing some big shots now. He lands two punches to the body. Maidana unleashes a big combo and tries to turn the fight into a brawl. He lands a good right hook in the process. Both fighters are throwing nothing but power punches. Ortiz gets backed against the ropes. Maidana throws a combo to the head and body. Ortiz lands a wide left hand. Ortiz lands a huge right and drops Maidana. He's really pouring it on. Maidana makes it up. Ortiz tries to close the show and knocks Maidana down again. He makes it up as the bell rings.
Spartan117: 10-7 Ortiz
Franchise: 10-7 Ortiz
Round 3
An Ortiz chant starts. Oscar De La Hoya shouts from ringside to Ortiz, telling him to be smart. Maidana lands a right hand. Ortiz backs Maidana into the the corner and lands a major right hand. Maidana fires back with a right hand head shot. Ortiz lands a straight left. Ortiz lands a good left hook and Maidana barely misses a with a big left. Ortiz gets Maidana in the corner again but doesn't land that much.
Spartan117: 10-9 Ortiz
Franchise: 10-9 Ortiz
Round 4
Ortiz comes forward and lands a straight left. Maidana lands a sneaky, strong right hand. Ortiz turns up the aggression and throws a left-right combo of hooks. He lands a great straight left again. Ortiz misses with another straight and Maidana barely misses with a counter punch. Ortiz isn't jabbing enough and Emmanuel Steward discusses it. Ortiz misses a wide left hand. There's some swelling under the left eye of Maidana.
Spartan117: 10-9 Ortiz
Franchise: 10-9 Ortiz
Round 5
Ortiz slips a left hook. He lands a huge right hand and Maidana backs up against the ropes. Ortiz springs into action and lands a good uppercut. Ortiz gets caught coming forward with a right from Maidana. Now Maidana is the aggressor. Ortiz gets hit harder. A cut has opened on the right eyebrow of Ortiz. They go toe to toe and trade huge power punches. It's tough to tell if the cut was opened by a headbutt or punch. Ortiz got absolutely hammered at the end of the round with two right hands. He's lucky the round ended.
Spartan117: 10-9 Maidana
Franchise: 10-9 Maidana
Round 6
The replay between rounds shows that the cut was definitely caused by a punch. Maidana comes right out and tries to close the show. Ortiz is in big, big trouble. Maidana lands too much and Ortiz goes down. He gets up but doesn't look like he wants to continue. The doctor looks at him and stops it. It's over.
The winner by TKO... and interim WBA super lightweight champion... Marcos Maidana.
Ortiz's face is in bad shape. Lots of swelling under the right eye and a cut over the left. He's in the ring talking to De La Hoya and Shane Mosley.
In the post-fight interview, Maidana says that the knockdowns made him hungry to fight harder. He said he was well prepared and well trained and ready for a tough bout. He adds that he knew he could take Ortiz after knocking him down the first time. He says he'll fight anyone his management throws at him.
Now Vic gets interviewed. He thought it was going to be an early night after the first knockdown. He's asked if being the headliner changed his style. He responds that the crowd did get to him and he wanted to knock Maidana out, making him stray from his game plan. He says the knockdown that he suffered really hurt him. He tips his cap to Maidana and says he was the better man tonight. Ortiz adds that he has a lot of thinking to do.
Posted by spartan117
Posted by spartan117
Live Ortiz-Maidana, Abraham-Oral Round By Round Updates Tonight
It's a full night of boxing tonight that might have you reaching for your remote or your DVR.
Next Big Thing candidate Victor Ortiz is on HBO, fellow rising star Juan Manuel Lopez is on pay-per-view, and a special edition of ShoBox features middleweight titleholder Arthur Abraham. Not too shabby.
If you aren't fortunate enough to be by a properly equipped TV this evening, well, we feel your pain. And we'll do our best to keep you up to date on the action because that's what we do here.
We'll definitely have Ortiz-Maidana and Abraham-Oral live round by round posts out on the main page (actually the Abraham fight may not be live, but we'll act like it is!). We'd love to do the PPV too, but we can only split our limited resources so many ways. Maybe one of our readers can keep us up to date on the JuanMa fight!
Come back and check us out starting shortly after 9 pm Eastern time tonight.
Posted by The Franchise
Next Big Thing candidate Victor Ortiz is on HBO, fellow rising star Juan Manuel Lopez is on pay-per-view, and a special edition of ShoBox features middleweight titleholder Arthur Abraham. Not too shabby.
If you aren't fortunate enough to be by a properly equipped TV this evening, well, we feel your pain. And we'll do our best to keep you up to date on the action because that's what we do here.
We'll definitely have Ortiz-Maidana and Abraham-Oral live round by round posts out on the main page (actually the Abraham fight may not be live, but we'll act like it is!). We'd love to do the PPV too, but we can only split our limited resources so many ways. Maybe one of our readers can keep us up to date on the JuanMa fight!
Come back and check us out starting shortly after 9 pm Eastern time tonight.
Posted by The Franchise
26.6.09
Weekend Predictions: Oritz-Maidana, Abraham-Oral, Lopez-Lontchi
The Franchise says...
Whether your preferred boxing viewing is on HBO, Showtime or pay-per-view, you've got something to watch on Saturday. What was originally scheduled to be a tremendous night of boxing that included a much anticipated Chris John-Rocky Juarez rematch and middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik is now just pretty good, but those are the breaks.
On the bright side, two of the brightest young stars in the game are still in action. With John-Juarez II off, Victor Ortiz gets the spotlight all to himself on HBO as he takes on Marcos Maidana.
Ortiz has been running through his competition, reeling off eight straight knockouts against guys who weren't all stiffs. The same could be said of Maidana, who is ranked inside The Ring's top 10 at 140 pounds and has 24 KOs in his 25 career wins.
Despite his youth, Oritz seemingly has it all: talent, savvy and charisma. He's worthy of the push he's got behind him, but as we saw recently with Alfredo Angulo, creating stars can sometimes be a tricky business.
We'll see if Maidana can pull off the Kermit Cintron spoiler role here. I'm not feeling it, so I like Ortiz to earn a mid-round KO.
A little further down the path to stardom is the man in action in Atlantic City, Juan Manuel Lopez. Already a titleholder, JuanMa possesses a scintillating blend of power and work rate and even has some defensive wherewithal to boot.
Gerry Penalosa used some well-timed counters and a ridiculous chin to hang with Lopez for a while in April, but he eventually got bludgeoned into submission. Olivier Lontchi can reportedly box a little bit, but does he have the power to keep JuanMa honest?
It's also worth keeping in mind that this wasn't supposed to be the PPV main event (that would have been Pavlik's fight) and the opponent was chosen with that in mind. I think it's back to a short night of work, with Lopez knocking out Lontchi early.
Finally, Showtime squeezed in an extra night of boxing to feature the man everyone wants to see in a showdown with Pavlik, Arthur Abraham. I don't know much about his challenger, fellow countryman Mahir Oral, but a glance at his record suggests King Arthur is a big step up in competition.
There's always a chance of a letdown, of course, but Abraham should be plenty motivated to look good on American TV and hopefully set up that future date with The Ghost. No upsets this weekend, as I like Abraham to retain his IBF title by mid-round KO.
Posted by The Franchise
Whether your preferred boxing viewing is on HBO, Showtime or pay-per-view, you've got something to watch on Saturday. What was originally scheduled to be a tremendous night of boxing that included a much anticipated Chris John-Rocky Juarez rematch and middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik is now just pretty good, but those are the breaks.
On the bright side, two of the brightest young stars in the game are still in action. With John-Juarez II off, Victor Ortiz gets the spotlight all to himself on HBO as he takes on Marcos Maidana.
Ortiz has been running through his competition, reeling off eight straight knockouts against guys who weren't all stiffs. The same could be said of Maidana, who is ranked inside The Ring's top 10 at 140 pounds and has 24 KOs in his 25 career wins.
Despite his youth, Oritz seemingly has it all: talent, savvy and charisma. He's worthy of the push he's got behind him, but as we saw recently with Alfredo Angulo, creating stars can sometimes be a tricky business.
We'll see if Maidana can pull off the Kermit Cintron spoiler role here. I'm not feeling it, so I like Ortiz to earn a mid-round KO.
A little further down the path to stardom is the man in action in Atlantic City, Juan Manuel Lopez. Already a titleholder, JuanMa possesses a scintillating blend of power and work rate and even has some defensive wherewithal to boot.
Gerry Penalosa used some well-timed counters and a ridiculous chin to hang with Lopez for a while in April, but he eventually got bludgeoned into submission. Olivier Lontchi can reportedly box a little bit, but does he have the power to keep JuanMa honest?
It's also worth keeping in mind that this wasn't supposed to be the PPV main event (that would have been Pavlik's fight) and the opponent was chosen with that in mind. I think it's back to a short night of work, with Lopez knocking out Lontchi early.
Finally, Showtime squeezed in an extra night of boxing to feature the man everyone wants to see in a showdown with Pavlik, Arthur Abraham. I don't know much about his challenger, fellow countryman Mahir Oral, but a glance at his record suggests King Arthur is a big step up in competition.
There's always a chance of a letdown, of course, but Abraham should be plenty motivated to look good on American TV and hopefully set up that future date with The Ghost. No upsets this weekend, as I like Abraham to retain his IBF title by mid-round KO.
Posted by The Franchise
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