"HBO looks at him as one of the handful of fighters that can, and hopefully will, carry the sport in the coming years," Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer recently stated in regards to Victor Ortiz, but after six rounds, unheralded Marcos Maidana may have just put a serious dent in the future plans of the network and the promotional company. Despite all the focus being on the young, rising prospect, Maidana was confident that his power would carry the day and he proved it on Saturday night.
ROUND 1
Ortiz comes out cautious. Maidana fires a quick combo, but the punches miss. Nice left hook lands for Maidana. Ortiz answers with a left of his own. Left hook lands upstairs again for Maidana. Right to the body lands for Maidana. Quick right hand lands for Maidana. 1-2 lands for Ortiz. Maidana backs up to the ropes. Counter right hand lands for Ortiz against the ropes and Maidana is down. He's up quickly. Ortiz walks to him and WOOOOOOOOOOO...BIG straight right from Maidana floors Ortiz. Ortiz is up, but his legs look shaky. Maidana tries to jump on him. Ortiz tries to hold on. Both men trading punches and landing body shots. Nice right hook lands for Ortiz. Maidana digs a 1-2 to the body. Left hook and an uppercut lands for Ortiz. Maidana lands a right to the body. Great round. Too close to call.
Ortiz 10 Maidana 10
ROUND 2
Maidana looking to land more bombs as he continues to stalk. Ortiz digs a 1-2 to the body. Right hand down the middle lands for Maidana. Maidana looking to brawl as he lands a looping right hand. Left hook and an uppercut lands for Ortiz. Maidana works the body on the inside. Ortiz doing a lot of holding. Chopping left hook upstairs lands for Ortiz on the inside. Another short left hand lands for Ortiz. Right to the body lands for Ortiz followed by a sweeping left hook. HARD jumping right hook lands for Ortiz and Maidana is down. Wow. Ortiz jumps on him. Left and right hook to the body lands for Ortiz. Short right hook upstairs lands for Ortiz and Maidana is down again. He's up...end of round. Wow. Great round for Ortiz.
Ortiz 20 Maidana 17
ROUND 3
The crowd begins to chant, "Ortiz! Ortiz! Ortiz!" Right to the body lands for Ortiz. Maidana lands a right hand down the middle. Ortiz lands a right hand and a left hook upstairs. Maidana answers with a hard right hand down the middle. Both men holding on the inside. HARD right hook lands upstairs for Ortiz. Maidana digs a left to the body. Short left hook on the inside lands for Ortiz. 1-2 lands for Ortiz. Another right hand on the inside lands for Ortiz. Round to Ortiz.
Ortiz 30 Maidana 26
ROUND 4
Maidana lands some shots on the inside while Ortiz holds on. Maidana is a lot more active and getting work done on the inside. Left hook lands for Ortiz. Right to the body lands for Ortiz. Maidana lands a left hook and a right hand upstairs. Wooooo...BIG left hand down the middle lands for Ortiz. Another left hand lands for Ortiz. Maidana works the body on the inside again. Ortiz lands his left hand down the middle. Left hook lands for Maidana. Right to the body lands for Maidana. Ortiz slowing down a bit. Right hand and an uppercut lands for Ortiz. Round to Maidana. Ortiz landed the flashy shots, but Maidana was more active.
Ortiz 39 Maidana 36
ROUND 5
Jab to the body lands for Ortiz. Uppercut and a left hook lands for Ortiz. Ortiz lands a nice combo along the ropes. Maidana holds on. WOOOOOOOO....HARD right hand down the middle lands for Maidana. Now Ortiz holds on. Another right hand lands for Maidana, but he eats a big right hook from Ortiz in the process. Uppercut lands for Maidana. Ortiz lands a left. Maidana lands a right. They trade big shots. Left hook lands for Maidana and Ortiz is cut. Ortiz fires back and lands a right hook. Maidana lands a right. Great exchange. Ortiz retreats on his toes. HARD right hand down the middle lands for Maidana. WOOOOOOOOO....HUGE right hand lands for Maidana right at the end of round. Big round for Maidana. They're actually talking about stopping the fight in the corner of Ortiz.
Ortiz 48 Maidana 46
ROUND 6
Big right hand lands for Maidana immediately. Ortiz looks ready to pack it in. Right hook lands for Maidana. Ortiz on the retreat. Maidana lands a right and a left. Another right hand lands for Miadana. Left to the body lands for Maidana and Ortiz goes down. He's up, but he looks ready to quit. The doctor takes a look at the eye. That's it. They stop the fight.
Maidana TKO6
THE WINNER BY WAY OF TKO AT :46 OF ROUND 6....MARCOS MAIDANA
COMPUBOX
Ortiz total punches: 74/177
Maidana total punches: 66/293
POSTFIGHT
"He has a heavy hand...I knew he was making some mistakes and I knew I could take him. That's what happened in the end," stated Maidana regarding his performance. "He's an experienced veteran. Nothing but all the respect to him...he does pack some power behind those punches...I fought really dumb...I was hurt. I'm not going to go out on my back; I'm not going to lay down for nobody, you know. I'd rather just, hey, I'm going to stop while I'm ahead that way I speak well when I'm older...I'm young, but I don't think I deserve to be getting beaten up like this so I have a lot of thinking to do," stated Ortiz, who already sounds like he's ready for retirement after suffering the devastating loss.
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