Ortiz ready to prove Maidana loss is now behind him

[Wheelchair]

NEW YORK (AP)—Victor Ortiz has heard every question that could possibly be asked of a young fighter after suffering his first knockout loss.

 

What went wrong? Have you put it behind you? Will it happen again?

 

It’s been almost a year since that night at Staples Center in Los Angeles, when the hot prospect ticketed for stardom came crashing down in spectacular fashion. Marcos Maidana turned his handsome, boyish face into a garish mess of bruises and cuts over six rounds, laying a savage beating as much on Ortiz’s body as his psyche.

 

“It was a shocker, I have to be honest,” said Ortiz’s promoter, Richard Schaefer, who remembers sitting ringside. “It was very surprising.”

 

Some critics accused Ortiz of quitting in the ring, one of boxing’s cardinal sins. They claimed that the 23-year-old from Garden City, Kan., never wanted to fight, and that he was looking for a way out after tasting the power from his Argentine opponent.

 

Fellow boxers came rushing to his defense, unwilling to allow someone with such potential to have his career reduced to embers at such a young age. Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley offered their support, and Manny Pacquiao sent a note of encouragement.

 

“A lot of fighters said, ‘Keep your head up, man,”’ Ortiz said. “Floyd Mayweather came up to me and spoke to me, he gave me his mind. He said, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing kid, but you’re a lot better than that.’ Coming from Mayweather, man, that says a lot.”

 

Ortiz wound up spending six months out of the ring recovering, until finally starting the long road back. He followed an easy win over Antonio Diaz by defeating Hector Alatorre in February, and now takes on the most difficult test of his redemption tour when he faces former lightweight champion Nate Campbell on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

 

Perhaps then, he can deliver the answer to the most important question that can be asked of any fighter: Does he have any heart?

 

“I’ve always just rolled it off. That night, I don’t know what happened,” Ortiz said. “My dad came into my life for the first time since I was 10, my brother walked out two months before the fight. It was just not the night that I wanted for something that big.”

 

Schaefer believes that Ortiz has learned from the experience, and in hindsight thinks that having a starring role at Staples Center on HBO may have been too much for him at such an early stage in his career. He may not have been ready for the attention, the bright lights, the scrutiny that comes with being the main event.

 

“Everybody was writing about the next Golden Boy, the next Oscar, and you take all that and he goes into the fight and first round, knocks Maidana down twice, and everybody is like, ‘Hey, he’s unbelievable!”’ Schaefer said. “I think it was an accumulation of these factors.”

 

Even now, Ortiz doesn’t make any excuses. He admits that his head wasn’t in the right place and accepts full blame for his performance. But he also points out that boxing is a tough sport, a what-have-you-done-lately sport, that rewards success and casts a critical eye on failure.

 

“If I wanted an easy job, I may have gone up the branches at Burger King, where I used to work. That was easy,” he said. “Flipping burgers, making fries — that was an easy job.

 

“It happens. I learned never take a fight when I’m feeling that way. You learn.”

 

Campbell said earlier this week that he hopes to teach Ortiz another lesson when they step into the ring together. The 38-year-old defeated Juan Diaz to win the lightweight title in 2008, then lost the title when he failed to make weight against Ali Funeka last year.

 

He moved up to 140 pounds to fight Timothy Bradley in the fall, but the fight was called a no-contest after it was stopped in the third round because of a cut over Campbell’s left eye.

 

“I don’t have a whole lot to say. I’m not going to make any idle threats or make any statements about what’s going to happen,” Campbell said. “I’m going to let my hands do the talking. I don’t care who you put in front of me, never have.”

 

Unlike Ortiz, nobody predicted stardom for Campbell. He doesn’t have apparel company Affliction in his corner, or network executives swooning. He took the other road to the highest echelon in boxing, the bumpy road, and he believes he’s all the better for it.

 

“I grew up in the ghetto, I was a foster child, been by myself most of my life,” he said, turning his attention to the fight Saturday night. “What you do is what you do. With me? I’m going to do what I have to do.”

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ap-ortizsnextchallenge

[donlevy]

Will ITV be broadcasting this fight?

[Wheelchair]

I don't know, but hopefully they will.

[WelshDevilRob]

I would have normally backed Campbell. Infact I did on Boxrec but those picks had to be submitted at the beginning of the month.

 

Having read Campbells Facebook page the man seems very erratic and almost lost the plot. I don't know what Campbell was like before but if his mumbles on FB are a change from his normal self then he'll be in trouble.

[Wheelchair]

Victor Ortiz has already had his gimmie, namely his knockout loss to Marcos Maidana last June. He can’t afford to lose again anytime soon.

 

That’s one reason his fight against veteran Nate Campbell on the Amir Khan-Paulie Malignaggi undercard Saturday in New York is compelling. If he wins, he’s back on track to become a top 140-pounder. If he loses, he might never become an elite fighter.

 

“This sport isn’t forgiving,” said Rolando Arellano, Ortiz’s co-manager. “A 22 year old in other sports loses a couple of games, learns from them and moves on. He continues his quest to conquer his sport. In this sport, a fighter who loses, because of all the talk afterward, might not be able to come back.

 

“I think Victor would have to knockout everyone for the next three years before he’d get back to where he is now.”

 

Ortiz (26-2-1, 21 knockouts) might not have an easy time. Campbell is 38 and seemed to struggle against Timothy Bradley in his last fight, a three-round no-contest because of a cut over his left eye caused by an accidental head butt, but he remains a crafty boxer with far more experience than his 23-year-old opponent.

 

Campbell hasn’t lost since a split-decision setback against Issac Hlatshwayo in 2006 and has victories over Juan Diaz and Ali Funeka in the past two years.

 

And no one is certain that Ortiz has fully recovered from the Maidana fight, a six-round give-and-take war that ended when a beaten Ortiz indicated he had had enough. Afterward, critics labeled him a quitter.

 

He bounced back six months later with a seventh-round knockout of veteran Antonio Diaz, the result of a bad cut over Diaz’s left eye. Ortiz controlled the fight from the outset but looked somewhat skittish. A subsequent victory over journeyman Hector Alatorre in February was in effect a work out.

 

And Ortiz bristled whenever the Maidana fight was mentioned, particularly when he was asked whether he had come to terms with the disastrous night. His typical response -- “I was over it right after it happened” –- didn’t seem to be genuine.

 

Now, however, he seems to have accepted it.

 

“It took me a little bit to get over the hump,” he said. “I finally took it for what it was worth. I know that it was, you know, just an obstacle for me. So I’m good. … It’s definitely a learning experience. There are many more things to learn in this life.”

 

Ortiz’s handlers haven’t taken a giant step backward in terms of his competition. Campbell (33-5-1, 25 KOs) is a real threat.

 

However, Arellano said he and his colleagues have toned down the next-great-thing marketing campaign that crumbled in the Maidana fight. They want him to prove he belongs among the best 140 pounders before they tout his star power.

 

And there’s only one way to prove he belongs among the best.

 

“Here’s a naturally talented, wonderful potential star,” Arellano said. “But can he get dirty in deep waters, in the 11th, 12th round with someone banging on him? Does he have the heart of a lion? Like I said to him, ‘Actions speaks louder than words.’ You can’t change anyone’s mind with words. You have to re-earn their respect.

 

“… Victor not only has to win, he has to look good against this type of opponent if he’s going to be a marquee fighter. He wants to get back on top. To do that, he has to go through Nate Campbell.”

 

Ortiz was asked whether he believes he is back to the form he displayed before the Maidana fight. He politely said he didn’t know but meant that he doesn’t care to think about it.

 

The Oxnard, Calif., fighter respects Campbell, who he called “a great fighter, a great champion,” but said repeatedly that he’s 100 percent ready for the challenge. That’s about it. He seems to have taken Arellano’s advice to heart: He’ll make his statement in the ring.

 

And no matter what happens he said he won’t take what people say to heart.

 

“People can say what they feel,” he said. “Everyone has their opinion. As far as that goes, I worry about myself and no one else.”

 

http://www.ringtv.com/blog/1928/ortiz_will_let_his_fists_do_his_talking_against_campbell/

[Faulks]

Comes accross as a nice Guy Ortiz. He was going to be and still could be the next big thing. But as the wrter says he could quite easily disappear off the radar if he loses.

[grapevine241]

i think the way the media handled ortiz's quitting against maidana messed up his head not the actual loss itself