Over a decade after their first encounter, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are set to meet for a second time, as ‘TBE’ makes an unexpected professional comeback. Now, Victor Ortiz, who faced Mayweather back in 2011, has laid out his prediction ahead of the fight.
Mayweather famously halted Ortiz in a controversial fashion, dropping and stopping the Kansas-born champion whilst his hands were down and his attention was elsewhere to claim the WBC welterweight world title.
In eight further professional bouts, Mayweather maintained his undefeated record and hung up the gloves after reaching the fabled 50-0 landmark in a stoppage win against UFC fighter Conor McGregor in August 2017.
To this day, Ortiz remains as Mayweather’s most recent knockout win over a recognised professional boxer, but that may change when he rematches ‘Pac Man’ at The Sphere in Las Vegas in six months’ time.
In an interview with FightHype, Ortiz looked ahead to the bout and doesn’t rate Pacquiao’s chances, stating that his former foe wouldn’t come back for a fight he didn’t believe he could win.
“Let’s call it like it is. Floyd is not going to take a fight that he doesn’t think he can win. I don’t know what that gives you, but I know what it gave me.”
As for Ortiz, the former welterweight world champion has announced a comeback of his own, as he takes to the ungloved version of the sport and signs with Bare Knuckle Boxing, with the 39-year-old expected to debut with the BKB franchise in the coming months.
