By: Christopher Roche
Maidana upsets Ortiz
Tonight looked to be a disappointing HBO B.A.D. show, because of the cancellation of the Rocky Juaraz vs. Chris John, but in the world of boxing, one never knows what is going to happen.
To my surprise, a modern day classic was hatched in the L.A. evening, and the Golden Boy/HBO hyped Victor Ortiz did not leave the ring as the star. Argentinean Marcos Maidana surprised the boxing world, in his U.S. debut, as he rose from the canvas three times to stop the much heralded Ortiz.
The opening bell brought immediate fireworks, as the two warriors traded vicious knockdowns. Ortiz landed a sharp right hand to drop Maidana, but Maidana bounced back up, and moments leader he dropped Ortiz with a howitzer right hand of his own. Ortiz looked very wobbly, but he made it through the round.
Maidana tasted the canvas twice in round two, and he almost looked to quit, as he took a knee after getting up the first time. However, once Maidana cleared his head, he mounted a clear attack. Maidana developed a gorgeous right hand, which landed consistently against the southpaw Ortiz.
In round six, Maidana cut Ortiz with a hard left hook, over Ortiz’s right eye, and he landed a devastating right hook at the bell. When Ortiz came out for round seven, he was clearly shaken, and Maidana dropped him within forty seconds. Ortiz rose from the knockdown, but he did not continue, and the Doctor waved the bout off at :46.
After the bout, Ortiz said he would not go out on his back, and he said he did not “deserve to get beaten up like that”. He told Max Kellerman that he, “had a lot of thinking to do”. Those were very ominous words from a purported rising star who is only 22 years of age.
With the victory, Maidana, 25, picked up the interim WBA Belt, and he raises his record to 26-1, 25 KO’s. His only loss was a controversial split-decision in Germany against Andriy Kotelnik. Ortiz falls to 24-2-1, 19 KO’s. The bout was contested at 140 lbs. in front of a large crowd at Staples Center in Los Angeles.