MAIDANA: THE NEW MAYORGA

What's good Dougie? I’ve been a fan since House of Boxing. Few things about this weekend. I felt compelled to watch this weekend as I heard that Marcos Maidana would fire his hands with reckless abandon. I knew that Victor Ortiz's chin was suspect after being dropped in the past and was very interested to watch how he would react. I was very surprised nonetheless in his reaction once pushed to the limit. To be honest, I've seen fighters quit in the past but I've never seen one tell a broadcaster interviewing him that he didn't need to be getting beat up like that. How disappointing!

And Maidana...Well I'll tell ya, I remember watching Ricardo Mayorga ice Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis a few moons ago and I remember feeling the same way then as I did tonight. A fighter that's flawed but terribly exciting is a welcome addition to the sport. You know while I'm at it as flawed as Mayorga is, he always gives his best and gave Mosley the most hell he's been in in years, Cotto included... Funny that you mentioned cartilage problems with the ribs a few mailbags ago... I hurt my intercostal cartilage 3 weeks ago and still am in extreme pain whenever I so much as sneeze. Mayweather better hope that Marquez's hook to the body is off that night....Keep doing what your doing Dougie. It works. -- David

Mayweather better indeed watch those body shots from Marquez (if he truly hurt his ribs in the first place).

Maidana has a long way to go to equaling Mayorga’s ring accomplishments, but I think the Argentine is a more well-rounded fighter than the Nicaraguan was when he was 25. Maidana is not as wild as Mayorga and he’s more disciplined between fights. The Argentine watches his weight, watches what he eats, and doesn’t have bad habits like drinking and smoking, so he’s naturally going to have better stamina in distance fights than Mayorga did. If he keeps Miguel Diaz (his secret weapon in the Ortiz fight as far as I’m concerned) on his team, I think he will continue to improve and develop into a threat to the elite 140 pounders (not just prospects like Ortiz).

Ortiz did two things wrong in Saturday’s slugfest, he went for the kill early in the fight and then he admitted on air that he didn’t want to get killed by staying in the shootout. Fans will forgive him for the first mistake; they won’t forgive him for the second.

Ortiz has many of the qualities that made Oscar De La Hoya a crossover star, but two things he doesn’t possess that The Golden Boy did is a world-class chin and the ability to edit his thoughts during a post-fight TV interview. The first attribute can’t be taught; the second one can. I don’t think we’ll see Ortiz ever admit the things he did after his first loss. His co-managers Shelly Finkel and Rolando Arellano will see to that.

As for the fight itself, I thought it was as good as it gets for five rounds. I favored Ortiz to win the bout, but I wasn’t surprised at all that he lost by stoppage. I’ve known (and I let it be known to my readers) that Maidana is a real contender who is more than just a puncher or slugger. This was a dangerous fight for Ortiz, who found out first hand. I don’t hold it against the young man at all for losing to a badass like Maidana. Honestly, I think Ortiz would have knocked out many world-class 140 pounders with the effort he gave Saturday night. Maidana just wasn’t one of them.


YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT MAIDANA

Hi Dougie,
You were a professor. In every write up to the fight you kept telling the readers to respect Marcos Maidana.

While he is a bit crude. He proved that he is hard, tough, and possessing will and belief himself.

In round one -- even though they traded knock-downs -- I thought that Ortiz was more badly hurt from that straight right-hand. Maidana had the look of a guy who seemed to be willing to walk through whatever hail-storm of right hands and left hooks to get what he wanted: boxing glory!

I am not going to bash Victor Ortiz. I am not going to say he was exposed. That is for the net-nerds. I enjoyed his HBO promo on him. He seems like a very nice and likable kid. Still I think his corner did a disservice to him by going into panic-mode. In the end -- Victor seemed to fold under the pressure of Maidana who caught him with a wicked left hook body shot that drove him into the corner. He seemed to quit or rather was willing to leave the dance. Deciding that “I do not like how this is going and no way am I going to go out on my shield.”

And there is nothing wrong with that. Boxing is a hard and brutal business.

I do not know if the hurt-business is for Ortiz, after listening to his post-fight interview. And I understand what he is saying but that mental make-up reveals a bit of his character. Good character no doubt but he is no Corrales or Vargas: Two fighters who seemed willing to give their lives inside the ring. Still not all fighters are of that kind of DNA make-up.

Any world-class trainer with a world-class fighter will instruct his charge to make it rough for Ortiz because he may be willing look for a way out when the heat is too hot in the kitchen.

Now, of course the flip-side to this is if Victor had dispatched Maidana in the second round I would not even be writing this. LOL.

Congrats to Marcos Maidana. I look forward to watching him again. He made a new fan tonight. All he earns from this fight he deserves. I do have a soft spot for hard, tough guys who may not have been blessed with a ton of physical ability but make themselves into professional prize fighters because of their will, conditioning and toughness.

Truly the Theater Of The Unexpected. INDEED! 'God grinds the axes he intends to use.' -- John H.

Well written, John. And I agree that the chants of “exposed” should be left to the “net-nerds” (I like that term, I’ll have to use it in the future).

Again, I want to state for the record, that I picked Victor Ortiz to win Saturday’s bout. I don’t want to come off like someone who hedges going into close fights and then claims to have picked the winner after the bout. I thought Oritz would use his jab to keep Maidana at bay in the early rounds and then pick his shots going into the middle rounds, which I thought would feature toe-to-toe exchanges that the younger, cleaner puncher would survive and prevail by KO or TKO. However, the slugfest began in the first round. Ortiz scored a flash knockdown and became more offense minded, allowing Maidana to catch and drop him with a monster right hand, which changed the complexion of the fight. (And I totally agree with you that the first round should have been scored for Maidana, 10-9, because the knockdown he scored was much harder. Two of the three judges scored the round this way; the other had it 10-9 for Ortiz.)

The two knockdowns that Ortiz scored in the second round was the beginning of the end for the young man because he was willing to exchange with Maidana in pursuit of the knockout from that point on. I think he realized too late, probably midway through the fifth round, that he couldn’t beat Maidana like that and by then, of course, it was too late.

Only time will tell if that sixth round revealed that Ortiz lacks the character to be able to gut out a firefight with a strong-willed opponent who hits as hard as he does.


IS THE FUTURE OVER?

Sup Dougie,
Six Rounds and six knock downs. What more can you ask for? Well probably for the fight to last longer but with two heavy handed fighters that’s very doubtful... So what happened with Ortiz? Did he really get over confident or was it something else? I think since he has been knocking everyone out he doest have the stamina to maybe go the distance or the into the late rounds with energy (kinda similar to Pacquiao cuz he was very tired against Marquez).

As for Maidana, he’s very smart fighter. He knew when he was hurt and knew how to avoid and retreat while Ortiz tried to clinch but wasn’t experienced in that area since he’s never been in that kind of situation... Now to the part that kinda bugged me. In the sixth, why did Ortiz look like he was quitting and in the end. Why and what does he have to think about? It sounded like retirement talk to me (hope I’m dead wrong). I’m not trying to kick Ortiz while he's down cuz I do believe he has a great future ahead of him but if he wants to be a fan magnet and land those high PPV numbers he has to be willing to knock the other guy down (that part check) or go down swinging (that part uncheck). Well to keep this short what do you see in these guys’ future? Amir Khan was mentioned but he will just get knocked out in the first round by either guy and I would gladly pay to see a rematch (even though I saw it for free since I subscribed to HBO). Anyways I just want you to know that you rock and your Mailbags and columns must have voodoo or some sort of drugs on them cuz they’re addicting. Keep up the good work son. -- Peter, Houston, Texas

Thanks for those kind words, Peter. If I’m a dealer, I’m addicted to the same s__t you are. The drug is boxing. LOL.

It’s easier to figure out what happens next with the winner of Saturday’s slugfest. Maidana won the WBA’s “interim” title by stopping Ortiz. He wants full recognition, which means fighting Andreas Kotelnik. (I would say that he has to fight the winner of Kotelnik-Khan, but the WBA may not recognize that as a title fight because of a beef the Panama-based organization has with Khan’s promoter Frank Warren… please don’t ask me to go into it, it’s just boxing politics.) If Khan beats Kotelnik, I seriously doubt Warren and Freddie Roach will want to risk the UK star against a beast like Maidana. So I’m guessing next for Maidana is either Kotelnik for the full WBA title, or a bout with No. 1 contender Dmitriy Salita, for the vacant title if Kotelnik doesn’t want to go through hell again (the Ukrainian absorbed a lot of damage to his jaw bone in that first fight).

Golden Boy Promotions and Ortiz’s co-managers need to figure out a couple of things before moving on with Ortiz’s career; the first is how tough of an opponent should they bring the kid back against considering how physically and psychologically punishing the Maidana fight was, and the other thing is determining whether the young man’s co-trainers Danny Garcia and Mario Aguiniga are up to the task of bringing Ortiz back. I’m not saying that Ortiz or his management should toss those two under the bus, I’m just stating that the question will be brought up by the power brokers behind the fighter (Golden Boy Promotions and Finkel).

What happened with Ortiz? I think it’s pretty clear what happened Saturday night. He got the fight beat out of him by a tougher opponent. He couldn’t maintain the war he started with Maidana. He should have never started it in the first place. I think he knows this now.

I don’t think he was overconfident coming into this bout or even during the fight. I believe he allowed himself to be pulled into a shootout. That’s not a bright thing when your opponent has knocked out 24 of 25 opponents.


B.A.D CLASSIC & KING ARTHUR

Dougie,
First off what a fight!!! I kept thinking of another B.A.D classic -- Hamed vs. Kelley while watching it… This was a terrible blow to Golden Boy Promotions who were telling anyone who would listen that this poor kid was going to be the next "Oscar'...

I never like to call on a fighter for quitting, but Ortiz seemed to lose all the wind from his sail after he took that cut AND those stiff shots from Maidana at the end of the 5th round. To me, he almost looked like he WANTED his corner to stop it before the 6th... Good for Maidana...

Arthur Abraham is quite impressive when he turns it on. I am disappointed to hear he might not be able to make 160 pounds as that all but kills a Pavlik fight for now... I think Abraham is immediately the best 168 lb fighter in the world if he makes the jump. There are a lot of fun match ups to be made there for sure, but I just don't see the likes of Kessler, Bute or Froch beating King Arthur (who I consider a top ten in the world level talent). Agree or Disagree? -- Tom G.

I disagree. I can see all three of the 168-pound titleholders you mentioned beating Abraham. I’m not saying they WILL defeat “the King” if those fights are made, I view them as even-money bouts, but I am saying that Abraham is still largely unproven at super middleweight. Just because he cleaned Edison Miranda’s clock at super middleweight doesn’t mean he’ll be able to do so with Kessler, Bute or Froch (especially the Viking and the Cobra, who appear to have very solid chins).

Now, at 160 pounds, I think Abraham can make a good case for being the best, even superior to the division’s champ, Kelly Pavlik. Don’t give up hope that a fight can’t still be made between the two. Abraham said he’s willing to make 160 pounds for the big fights, and if he can’t make the weight, I’m sure Pavlik wouldn’t mind fighting the Armenian assassin a few pounds over 160.

As for Ortiz and Golden Boy Promotions, I think both will be just fine. Saturday night was definitely a setback, but it’s not the end of their worlds. Ortiz will be back. Remember Vicente Escobedo was supposed to be the second-coming of De La Hoya. He obviously wasn’t, but he’s currently on the verge of becoming a bona fide lightweight contender and he may yet win a world title. You’re not going to hear folks from Golden Boy Promotions call Ortiz the next De La Hoya going forward, but there’s no reason for them not to continue backing and believing in the kid. He was absolutely thrilling in defeat to a real badass.

I agree with what you observed of Ortiz in the fifth round against Maidana, but honestly, I think the Argentine would have taken the wind out of the sails of most 140-pound contenders in that round.

ORTIZ QUIT!

Hey Doug,
Saturday night's fight was one of those I was really looking forward to with the promise of sustained action, and on that point it did not disappoint. After seeing (and being moved by) the personality profile on Ortiz I said, "Go get 'em kid!" I WANTED this to be his night. He seemed like a good guy with a lot of heart who had battled his way up through some tough breaks in life. His opponent was clearly no pushover and the first round was full of drama. Each man was down and Ortiz was definitely the worse for wear after his knockdown.

BUT... he got up and shook it off and continued to press his attack. The problem was, he forgot his skill set and began to fight Maidana's fight. To make matters worse, something seemed to go out of Ortiz when after a few rounds of taking his best shots, Maidana just kept coming. Ortiz could not make any adjustments and as a result could do nothing about the incoming right hands. When he suffered the cut over the right eye and the mouse under the left I thought that we will see what he is made of NOW. After the sixth round knockdown when he signaled that he had enough, I shouted out loud. I couldn't believe it. In the pandemonium that followed in the ring, I saw the look on De La Hoya's face as he spoke to Ortiz. I could not read his lips but he did not seem too happy about the way Ortiz surrendered.

Victor's post fight comments also stunned me a bit when he said, "I'm not going out on my back for anyone. I don't deserve to get beat up like this. I have some thinking to do."

WTF!!!!!! How hard will it be to come back from this (the fight AND his post fight comments). I'm just glad that Jim Gray wasn't doing the after fight interview. Can you imagine what HE would have said? ...... "Uh... Victor do you realize what a p__sy you will be viewed as after the way you quit like that? Do you think the fans will ever forgive you? You trashed one of boxing's biggest rules.... never quit."

Don't get me wrong Doug. I was rooting for Ortiz, but now I'm not sure if he really wants to Box anymore after last night. He did seem to have that intangible, "heart" but sometimes a good ass whuppin' can change a man's mind about things. I guess we will see. -- David, Nashville

Jim Gray would’ve been in Ortiz’s ass worse than Maidana. LOL.

It will probably be easier for Ortiz to come back from the physical punishment he absorbed than it will be for him to rebound from they way he reacted to the stoppage and his post-fight comments. Boxing is an unforgiving sport and business, and nobody is as unforgiving as the fans, most of whom will consider him to be pure hype, an outright “quitter”, and/or a frontrunner from now on until he defeats a world beater.

That’s OK. Going through harsh criticism after one’s first loss or two seems to be a right of passage for promising talents in this era. Kermit Cintron, who just beat one of the sport’s other “future stars” in Alfredo Angulo, had to go through it after his first loss to Antonio Margarito. Bernard Dunne and Amir Khan had to comeback from brutal first-round KOs (to guys who weren’t half as dangerous as Maidana). Dunne just won a world title in a war of attrition. Khan is about to fight a titleholder, and he might win. Wladimir Klitschko, who just won the world heavyweight title, has had to come back from THREE humiliating TKO losses. Think about his first fight with Lamon Brewster. What was everyone saying after that fight? Probably the same s__t everybody said about Cintron, Khan, and Dunne after their first losses.

I could be wrong, but I think there are more examples of talented young fighters who have successfully rebounded from devastating or embarrassing losses than there are of potential stars who fizzled out after their first loss (like Francisco Bojado or Audley Harrison).

And maybe I’m just a glass half-full kind of guy, or maybe I’m a naïve fool, but I think Ortiz and Angulo will eventually become better fighters because of the setbacks they suffered this year.


ARGENTINA'S WEEKEND!

Dear Dougie,
Great weekend for us Argentine boxing fans after the huge upset of Garay the previous Saturday, losing his light heavyweight title due to bad preparation to a limited boxer like Campillo.

But this weekend started with Omar Narvaez´ 16th defense of his flyweight title in front of 10,000 people with a masterful showing, but again, facing the level of opposition that he can beat. I can only hope this will change, (WBO boss) Paco Valcarcel says he would like to see him against Ivan Calderon. What do you think of this matchup?

And the biggest happiness came Saturday with the war that you predicted between Maidana and Ortiz. It was great and I believe Maidana showed the best of our fighters: their heart, along with his tremendous power. I think that when he was knocked down he was never hurt. This happened before in his career, and he always KTFO his opponent. Please, tell me quickly what he has to improve before I start asking for him to fight Pacquiao next!! Who do you expect him to fight now?

Greetings from the kingdom of boxing for one weekend! -- Nicolas

I think Omar Narvaez vs. Ivan Calderon would be the exact opposite of Ortiz-Maidana in terms of drama and sustained action, but it’s a quality matchup nonetheless. It’s definitely one for the boxing “purists”.

I think Kotelnik or Khan is next for Maidana, if they’re willing to fight him. If not, there’s D-Salita or a WBA top-10 rated guy like Mike Alvarado (which could be a pretty good scrap). Perhaps a deal could be worked out for him to fight the winner of Bradley-Campbell if there’s enough interest from American cable networks (HBO or Showtime). I’d like to see that.

I think the main things Maidana needs to improve on is the technique of his punch delivery (he won’t catch Pacquiao with those wide looping haymakers) and his foot placement. If his balance and foot placement was better while he punched he probably wouldn’t have been gone down three times against Ortiz.


WHAT NOW FOR ORTIZ & GBP?

What's up Doug,
As always I hope all is well.

I'm looking for a bit more insight into the game and maybe you can school me and some other fans.

Aside from the fragile ego of a fighter that lost a battle he was suppose to win (Ortiz in his case), what about the people around him. For instance, how do you think goes around in the minds of the braintrust at GBP after their star is beaten in such way? Did they invest a lot of money and might be worried of not making it back after a guy is defeated and basically says that he has to think about his future? Did they not really think that Maidana was dangerous or were they not only selling the hype but asking for a side of French fries with it?

On another note.... it was my impression that somewhere in round 5 Victor decided he wanted nothing to do with Maidana.... was he overconfident or is this a sign that he lacks something in the heart department... in your opinion?

This fight reminded me of Cotto and Torres.... out of no where a sure thing turn into a... "WTF it's a real fight!" I loved the fight... even my wife was impressed by it, and he usually just sits there to make my happy.

Take care! -- Ernesto Iglesias, NYC

There are no sure things in boxing.

I don’t think Ortiz was overconfident, and I’m not sure about his heart. He might be lacking, but I think Ortiz would have overwhelmed most bottom-top-10 junior welterweights with the effort he put forth through five rounds and I think Maidana would have crushed the spirit of even some of the top 140 pounders.

What do I think went through the minds of Ortiz’s brain trust and the good folks at Golden Boy Promotions Saturday night? “Oh f__k! What are we gonna do now?” is my best guess.

Of course, they’ve spent a lot of money on Ortiz. He got a six-figure signing bonus when came aboard the good ship Goldie. And of course they’re worried about recouping their investment. Boxing is a business. However, one takes risks in any business, they know this. They know how unpredictable boxing is. And they absolutely knew that Maidana was a threat. (Hey, he wasn’t their first choice for Ortiz; Andreas Kotelnik was.)

But they will roll with this setback like they have other setbacks (like De la Hoya getting beatdown by Pacquiao), just like Top Rank had to roll with their setbacks (Kelly Pavlik getting schooled by B-Hop and Antonio Margarito getting KTFO by Shane Mosley and then busted for hand-wrap tampering).

If a promotional company is worth its salt it can survive one of its key fighters or up-and-comers losing a fight.


VICTOR AND OSCAR

Hey Dougie,
What's up man. Everything is fine?
I wanted to thank you for the information about Ortiz chin that prevented me from getting too exited about the kid. Of course I'm not happy about what happened as Ortiz was and is still a great hope for the boxing. For me it was too risky a match up at this point of his career and I hope that his career is not going to finish as fast (or a lot faster) as Fernando Vargas’s did because of too much rushing. It is strange for me to put your fighter against a man with 24 KOs out of 25 fights when you know that his chin is not great and he doesn't have yet the experience and the composure to box the big puncher.

This match got me thinking how difficult it is for someone to fill the shoes of Oscar De La Hoya. I mean he was maybe not the GOAT but he had it all. Looks, skills, IRON CHIN. He took the punishment in some of the big fights and they say before some of these fights he was injured but chose not to postpone them. Fans and even journalist are going to appreciate him more in the future IMHO. Power to you Dougie you are my most trusted source from the gyms now :). And for Ortiz keep it up boy you can still make it!!! All the best. -- Lubomir Vezenkov

I think we can all still be excited about Ortiz. It’s very challenging for a fighter to become world class without a world-class chin, but it’s been done before.

The knockdowns against journeymen and the gym stories were red flags, but the only reason I regurgitated that info in features leading into Saturday’s fight was because Ortiz was facing a real puncher.

The guys who have buzzed Ortiz in the gym are either bigger than him (Vanes Martiroysan) or bona fide punchers (Edwin Valero -- when Vic was still an amateur; and Abdulai Amidu, who has a 18-0, 17 KOs record). The journeymen who dropped Ortiz had power. So it’s not like just anyone can walk up and put him on his ass.

You’re absolutely right about how tough it is to fill De La Hoya Hoya’s shoes. He wasn’t just a marvelous talent with crossover talent; Goldie had a hell of chin. Top Rank could put him in with heavy hitting punishers like Ike Quartey, Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley -- and though he either barely held his own or lost against that level of opposition -- Arum didn’t have to worry about his star getting KTFO.


SHADES OF CAMACHO ROSARIO

Sup Dougie,
First off, I wanna praise both Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana for showing guts and putting on an exciting slugfest which I believe is the leading candidate for Fight of the Year. If this makes any sense, I believe Ortiz has a lot of guts and courage but lacks heart. He showed guts by rising from a first round knockout and going toe-to-toe with a powerful puncher like Maidana for five more rounds. But when he felt Maidana was getting the better of the exchanges, he looked for a way out. When his corner asked if he wanted to continue, he did not respond and I thought the corner was about to stop it. The post fight interview was the most discouraging moment for Ortiz fans such as myself, as he was all smiles, rather indifferent, and made comments like "I'm not gonna go out on my back.. I'm gonna quit while I'm ahead.. I don't deserve to get beat up like this, I have a lot of thinking to do." This is not the mindset of the better champions of the sport, and I think it's safe to say Ortiz is no longer the potential superstar we all thought he was. I'm the last guy to underrate a prospect after only one loss, but I just think Madaina, like Edwin Rosario in '86, took away a super prospect's heart. Then again, Camacho went on to have a solid, yet uninspiring career. -- Will

I understand what you’re saying about Ortiz having guts but not heart. You may be right, but only time will tell us for sure.

One thing about Camacho I’d like to point out is that though he became a safety first boxer who often stank out the joint after the Rosario fight, he never pulled himself out of a fight where he was taking a beating (see his bouts vs. JC Chavez, Felix Trinidad and De La Hoya for examples). I also think Camacho’s career was more than just “solid”. To me, he’s a lot like Roger Mayweather, one of those talented guys who fought everyone but were held back by their lifestyle and thus fall just short of being hall of famers.


SAW YOU AT STAPLES

Sup Doug. I hope you had fun at the fights, I did. I saw you at the Staples Center when they did the MJ tribute. I saw you, showed the peace sign and said "sup Doug" and you threw the sign back. I was the Mexican kid that looks like Kumar. Anyways what do you think about the proposed Gamboa-Lopez fight? I think it would be like the Ortiz-Maidana fight. Peace out.

(PS: Steve Kim ignored me ) -- David R.

Maybe Kim saw that you looked like Kumar and wanted to avoid Harold & Kumar comparisons by being seen with you. Or maybe he’s still depressed over the King of Pop’s untimely passing.

Anyway, I’d ask you if you had a good time but I know you’re a hardcore fan, so you had to have appreciated the shootout between Ortiz and Maidana.

I think Gamboa-Lopez will have just as much sustained action as Ortiz-Maidana but more skill and technique involved; as well as a more satisfying ending.


DAMN, WE STILL NEED A MEXICAN STAR

Ortiz looked like Fernando Vargas to me always... I hoped I was wrong, wanting him to be more, and he isn't. Margarito is a cheating bastard fraud who could have killed someone, and DLH is gone like Chavez before him. This leaves A HUGE void in the sport. There’s no Muhammad Ali, Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson or DLH left for the mega events. I know Pacman v Mayweather will do well, but neither is a stand alone crossover super star, and never will be. As for hardcore fans, I like the way 160-168 is shaping up with Pavlik, Paul Williams, Ward and Jacobs. The last man standing there is gonna be a beast!! -- Kemet

Don’t sleep on Matt Korobov in the middleweight division.

And don’t count out Ortiz and Alf Angulo coming back and building solid fan bases. I think Chris Arreola can be THE guy that Mexican, Mexican-American, hardcore, and casual fans can all get behind; however, he has to beat one of the Klitschko’s to get there. I know I sound crazy writing this, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.


THE 140-POUND EMPIRE

Hi Dougie,
"However, I should point out that all of Ortiz’s talent and technique can quickly go out the window if he gets clocked by a clean punch from Maidana."

That was from your Friday mailbag. Man, you sound like the second coming of Bert Sugar, huh!? LOL! You hit the nail there, Mr. Fischer! I must admit I'm not too familiar with Maidana, but the way he fought made me say he's going to KTFO Amir Khan who you and I and the rest of the boxing community knows has a chin made of talc. The 140 kingdom is getting interesting even with the absence of its former ruler from UK.

How about a 140-lb royal rumble featuring Bradley, Campbell, Maidana, Prescott, Khan, Kotelnik and of course -- despite his loss but still a major jr. welter player -- Ortiz, while their Filipino king is busy preparing for his welterweight invasion? I personally believe that Hatton can still beat at least half of these guys, what do you think, sir?

I don't know, Dougie, I'm rooting for a Pacquiao victory but I'm not as confident as my fellow Pacman fans. It seems to me that after witnessing how Cotto struggled against Clottey, they kind of concluded that Pacquiao will demolish Cotto, without realizing the factor that Clottey is a legitimate welterweight. I kept this email short as you prefer. Thanks :) -- Adrian the Ace, Philippines

I think Cotto is definitely live against Pacquiao. That’s a fight your boy can lose.

Well, thanks to Gary Shaw, Thompson Boxing, DKP, and Showtime we’re getting one-fourth of your 140-pound royal rumble with Bradley-Campbell on Aug. 1. I say we skip the tournament and just have Maidana face the winner of that one. Prescott and Khan are really lightweights. Win or lose against Kotelnik, I think Khan is heading back to 135 pounds. I think Kotelnik is only one or two fights away from retiring. Ortiz needs to go through a rebuilding phase.

Hey, I was just tellin’ the truth in Friday’s mailbag. I think Ortiz is a hell of a talent but I knew he’d never faced a brute like Maidana.


JACOBS A BETTER PROSPECT THAN ORTIZ

Dear Mr. Fischer:
Teddy Atlas had the quote of the weekend, which while cliche, rang true: "boxing is 75% mental." Danny Jacobs has a great head on his shoulders, which was why he was my prospect of the year last year, despite not fighting anyone notable. Every time I've seen Victor Ortiz speak after a fight, he seems like, well, a kid. No doubt an immensely talented, charming kid, but like the prior prospect of the year, Amir Khan, he shows a very young, unfocused mindset. (It does seem like Khan has responded well to his 'wake-up' call, however.)

When commentators talk about the mental aspect of the game, I assume they refer to the ability to appropriately channel one's emotions (fear, excitement, anger, anxiety, etc.) in a manner than allows them to make adjustments, while not getting overwhelmed or carried away. A related factor is mental stamina. In intense, individual competitions, I believe the greater challenge is to keep your mind fresh, nimble, and steady as the competition wears on. In boxing this must especially be true, given the high-level of intensity and literal, constant physical assaults. If fights went only 4 rounds, Zab Judah would be an all-time great. He's not.

What Ortiz reminded me of was, in an exaggerated manner, the way Juan Diaz reacted to getting cut against Juan Manuel Marquez. Diaz, despite being an incredibly smart fighter who faithfully executes his game plans, tends to react in extremes to getting hurt--passive or aggressive. Marquez, on the other hand, has always been able to stay on a freakishly keen level, make adjustments, and execute them in an aggressive, but controlled, manner--no matter what kind of assault he is weathering. Ditto for Cotto.

It does take a lot of character to pick yourself up off the mat like Ortiz did, but much of that I would attribute to pure adrenaline. Letting that adrenaline flood your brain will lead you right back to the mat against elite competition. I'm keeping my money on guys like Jacobs and Andre Ward. Thanks. -- Matthew, NYC

I don’t think you can really compare Jacobs, Ward, or Ortiz to Juan Diaz, who won his first world title at age 20 and unified three belts before he was Ward’s age. Diaz was knocked out by an arguably great first-ballot-hall of famer. Yes, Diaz reacted negatively to the cut he sustained but most world-class lightweights would not have been able to take advantage of that situation in the manner that Marquez did.

As for comparing Ortiz’s character to Jacobs’, I think it’s a tad premature. We haven’t seen Jacobs in the ring with a killer like Maidana.

I’m not saying that Jacobs won’t handle his biz whenever he does step up to that level, because I think the Brooklynite possesses immense talent and I agree that he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He definitely seems more mature than Ortiz. However, against the level of fighters that Jacobs has fought so far in his career, Ortiz looked like ‘The Truth’. He obliterated those guys.

Jacobs is 17-0, and he looks very good. So did Ortiz after 17 bouts, and he faced three undefeated prospects (Nestor Rosas, Freddie Barrera, and Marvin Cordova Jr.) in that time. Jacobs has yet to face an undefeated fighter.

Both prospects are 22 years old (Ortiz is one month older), but Ortiz has faced one former titleholder (Carlos Maussa) and two former title challengers (Mike Arnaoutis and Maidana). Jacobs has yet to face this kind of opposition. I realize that Ortiz turned pro more than three years earlier than Jacobs, so in the next year or two maybe we’ll see him face a fellow prospect like Andy Lee or Matt Korobov, or a former title challenger like Marco Antonio Rubio, or a former titleholder like Keith Holmes. How he performs in those fights will allow us to make a more accurate comparison with Ortiz.

I know Ortiz comes off as child-like sometimes in his post-fight TV interviews and I know that he broke some sacred boxing rules by indicating that he’d had enough against Maidana, but he should still get credit for facing a young (25), proven (in his 12-round bout with Kotelnik), contender (No. 10 by THE RING) with serious punching power (24 KOs in 25 wins).

Andre Ward was the Olympic Gold medalist of the 2004 Games. He’s 25 years old and he JUST fought the first puncher of his career (Edison Miranda). To his credit he passed the test. Maybe Ortiz would have passed his puncher’s test if he took it three years from now. These are things fight fans need to consider before attempting to write the book on a young man’s character.

Jacobs hasn’t fought a true puncher yet. We’ll see what happens whenever he does. I don’t know if you saw his fight with Mike Walker this past May, but the Chicagoan is no world beater, and certainly doesn’t have Maidana’s credentials or power, and Jacobs had a look on his face in the late rounds of that eight rounder like he didn’t want to be there. Don’t let the official scores of that fight fool you. It could have easily been a draw. Check that fight out and keep it in mind before you assume that Jacobs has all the “intangibles” needed to be a star.


Dougie can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com