Boxing is a test of will as well as skill. Ortiz has skill and was a better technical fighter than Maidana IMO. The thing is, different fighters react differently to their first gut check in the ring and this is what separates the mediocre, good and great fighters. As some have mentioned, Ortiz was probably going to be stopped anyway when he quit, but it was his comments after the fight about him not being sure he deserves to be taking this kind of punishment that makes me question his desire. I could understand a statement like that from a 35 year old who had been in a lot of wars but to my knowledge he has never taken a bad beating. He only had one loss prior to the Maidana fight and that was by DQ. Maidana was down 3 or 4 times and each time he got up with an intent to win.

I had never seen Maidana fight before and I am now a fan of his. He will most likely provide an exciting fight each time out because of the abundant punching power he possesses. As for his dirty tactics, actually they both punched behind the head, Maidana a little more though.