Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

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Floyd Mayweather, Jr. : biography

February 24, 1977 –

On Thursday, July 15, Mayweather was given until midnight to sign the contract. The following day, the Top Rank website embedded a countdown clock with the heading "Money Time: Mayweather’s Decision".. Latimesblogs.latimes.com (July 15, 2010). Retrieved on June 20, 2011. On July 17, Arum announced that there was no word from Mayweather’s camp and a deal for a November 13 fight was not reached.

On July 19, after waiting for Mayweather’s response, Leonard Ellerbe (a close adviser) denied that negotiations for a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao had ever taken place. He stated that Arum was not telling the truth, and Pacquiao never agreed to testing until the fight.Davies, Gareth A. (July 20, 2010) . Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. Arum later criticized De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer for denying that negotiations took place, after De La Hoya previously stated that they were "very, very close in finalizing the contracts". Arum revealed that HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg acted as mediator between Mayweather’s handlers and those of Pacquiao’s from Top Rank Promotions.. Sports.inquirer.net (July 21, 2010). Retrieved on June 20, 2011. On July 26 Greenburg stated that he had been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2, trying to put the fight together, but they were unable to come to an agreement at all (contradicting what Arum and Top Rank had previously said). After the second round of negotiations broke off, Mayweather told the Associated Press that he had fought 60 days ago, was in no rush to fight Pacquiao and was not thinking about boxing at the moment.. Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. Almost a year later (on July 8, 2011), Pacquiao’s top adviser Michael Koncz stated that Pacquiao had never agreed to testing until fight day (which contradicted Arum and the Pacquiao camp). However, Arum confirmed that Pacquiao had agreed to unlimited random testing administered by the Olympic organization. Further obstacles to the fight surfaced when Mayweather refused a 50-50 split of earnings with Pacquiao for the fight. Pacquiao was reportedly offered a flat fee of $40 million, with no share of the pay-per-view earnings. Mayweather affirmed that a 50-50 split would not be offered to Pacquiao.

Return to the ring

Mayweather vs. Ortiz

On June 7, 2011, Mayweather announced via Twitter that he was set to fight WBC welterweight champion and The Ring #2-ranked welterweight Victor Ortiz on September 17. Ortiz was Mayweather’s first challenger in 16 months. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. From round one, Mayweather used his speed, skills and accurate right hand to tag Ortiz repeatedly. Although Mayweather seemed in control through the first three rounds (judges’ scores 30–27, 30–27 and 29–28 for Mayweather) in the fourth round Ortiz had some success, landing a few shots and stinging Mayweather before bulling him into the corner. He then rammed Mayweather in the face with an intentional headbutt, opening a cut on the inside and outside of Mayweather’s mouth. Referee Joe Cortez immediately called time out and docked Ortiz a point for the blatant foul. Ortiz, apparently acknowledging his wrongdoing, hugged Mayweather in the corner and even appeared to kiss him.

Cortez motioned the fighters back together to resume the fight, without putting them in a neutral corner. Both fighters touched gloves, and Ortiz gave Mayweather another hug. At that moment, Cortez was not looking at the fighters. As Ortiz let go, Mayweather took advantage of Ortiz not having his hands up and unloaded a left hook which wobbled Ortiz. Ortiz then looked at the referee, and Mayweather connected with a flush right hand to Ortiz’s face. Ortiz fell to the canvas, and was unable to beat Cortez’s count as the crowd of 14,687 jeered Mayweather. After the fight Ortiz claimed that he was merely obeying the referee’s instructions when he was "blindsided" by Mayweather, who defended his actions by saying that "In the ring, you have to protect yourself at all times".