Quote Originally Posted by Majesty View Post
Found this video on youtube, clearest one I've seen that shows Cortez had restarted the fight with time to spare, pretty much clears that up imo. Ortiz has no one to blame, Cortez definitely didn't say "break" before Mayweather clocked him.
This is the false premise/straw man that all of the commentary starts with. As far as I know, no one -- not in any of the posts on this site, not among the HBO commentators, not in emails in to The Ring -- is saying that what Floyd did was illegal. Everyone accepts that he was within the rules. That's not the point.

The point that's being made is that, despite being legal, it was a classless and gratuitous move. I have always been a bigger Floyd fan than a Manny fan just because I prefer slick, technical boxing to a less disciplined brawler style. But there's absolutely no way Manny (or Sergio Martinez or Nonito Donaire or either Klitchko, or anyone else on the P4P list) would have hit a guy who was obviously in the middle of apologizing. Hopkins is the only other elite guy I can even imagine doing that.

And I totally agree that Ortiz was way in the wrong for the butt, which was insane. But he got his point deduction. And the butt was obviously a move from a young, excitable guy who was caught in a bigger moment than he could handle; it was clear from how intent on profusely apologizing he was afterward that it was not a premeditated, mean-spirited move, however totally objectionable. Whereas Floyd's sucker-punch was a calculated dick-move. I mean, I'm sure he was justifiably pissed about the butt, but it wasn't a heat-of-the-moment type thing.

I basically come down where Lampley did. Sure, it was legal; but if you think you're an all-time great, why stoop to that rather than get your revenge by dominating Ortiz in the remainder of the fight, skill versus skill?

I'm sure he's happy with it in the end because it makes him that much more infamous, WWE villain-style, and probably translates into more PPV buys next time out. Which is definitely what the outburst with Merchant was about too.