Mayweather, 34, is one of boxing’s true superstars. He’s also one of its notorious bad boys, as evidenced by some of his actions on HBO‘s 24/7: Mayweather vs. Ortiz reality series, not to mention his myriad legal troubles and penchant for gambling and literally burning through money in Sin City, where he lives and trains.
On Wednesday, Mayweather took the high road and, well, played nice. He had complimentary things to say about Ortiz, 24 (“You’re an amazing athlete”). He had nice things to say about the media (“even with the long layoff, you guys kept me relevant”), about his fans (“let’s give the fans what they want to see”), about the USA (“I’m going to acknowledge the red, white and blue. 9-11, I stand strong for this country) and even about himself during the fight (“I’m going to go in there with class and leave with class”).
He remained calm throughout and kept it (mostly) clean.
But Ortiz, who has an amazing back story that could someday be made into a movie, and his trainer, Danny Garcia, came ready to talk some trash.
Garcia accused Mayweather of being a dirty fighter (“we all know how you fight”), and referred to Mayweather’s greatness in past tense (“He was one of the best fighters, but now it’s our time”).
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Asked about Garcia’s assessment, Ortiz said: “He uses things he shouldn’t use. He uses his elbows, he holds a lot. We’ve worked hard to prevent any of those issues from interfering. So we’re fine.”
Then he added: “I’m prepared for the best Mayweather. Or the dirtiest. … I never said he was dirty, but apparently my coaches have some concerns.”
Mayweather’s answer was simple: “Boxing’s a dirty sport. When you’re trying to hurt a certain individual, how can it possibly be clean?”
Garcia did thank Mayweather for inviting his estranged brother, Robert Garcia, also a top-notch trainer, to the bout. The brothers have been feuding since Ortiz left Robert and began training with Danny a few years ago. “It might be a good opportunity for me and him to start talking again,” said Danny.
Garcia may have been trying to defuse Mayweather’s plan to invite Robert Garcia and one of Garcia’s fighters, lightweight champion Brandon Rios, with whom Ortiz has publicly feuded, to the fight. They might even walk to the ring with him when Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) and Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KOs) face off Saturday night (HBO pay-per-view, 9 p.m. ET) for Ortiz’s WBC welterweight title.
Mayweather is nearly a 7-1 favorite, but Ortiz is coming off a dominant performance with his unanimous decision victory against unbeaten Andre Berto in April.
Mayweather, meanwhile, has not fought since defeating Shane Mosley in May 2010. But he says he wants to be a lot busier going forward, potentially capitalizing on his status as the self-proclaimed king of pay-per-view, with a total of 6.9 million buys, including a record 2.4 million when he defeated Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
