Victor Ortiz: Kill the messenger

June 29, 7:19 PMIndianapolis Fight Sports ExaminerDennis "dSource" Guillermo

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Vitor Ortiz (AP Photo)

Boxing is such an unforgiving sport. Within twenty four hours you can go from top to bottom yet the road to the top usually takes lifetimes to reach- if you are fortunate, skilled and work hard enough.

Household names that can headline an HBO Boxing After Dark card at such a young age are almost unheard of. Victor Ortiz was and still is a great prospect. Did he deserve the spotlight he received last Saturday? Sure. The fight was pretty well attended and it made boxing fans look. Does he deserve the fallout from his shocking loss to Maidana last Saturday? I'd like to say no. Ortiz after all knocked down Maidana three times in the first two rounds and was very capable of defeating the Argentinian warrior.

Had Ortiz came in with a Mayweather swag and bragging he was the "next coming" then it's fair game for the kid to be hurled humble pies on the face, but Ortiz, wise for a fighter at his age, has always been humble. It was his promotional outfit that did all the bragging and hype for him. In interviews leading up to the fight, Ortiz was aware of where he was in his career and everytime an interviewer would bring up the hyperboles associated to his name and the great possibilites the future held for him being touted as the "next Oscar De la Hoya", Ortiz would always be first to remind everyone around him that he is not in a rush and did not mind being a prospect for the next ten years if that's how long it would take for him to reach his potential. He always uttered phrases like "I'm concentrating on my opponent and nothing else" and "I'm taking things one step at a time".

It's not Ortiz's fault you had high expectations for him. It's not his fault all the fans at the Staples Center that came out to see his coming out party came home feeling empty. All he did was prepare and give it his best, but last Saturday night was simply not his night. When Oscar De la Hoya said after the fight that Ortiz made "stupid mistakes", I hope he realized that the superstar he was grooming and saying was more exciting than Manny Pacquiao was simply acting his age. Ortiz is still young and needs a lot more experience- the same things Ortiz said about himself. But it's the Golden Boy crew that pushed the kid and pimped him out as if he walked on water. They mapped out a path for him and led him a certain way, now that he's lost and sort of lost his way, you can't just say the kid made a "stupid mistake".

Remember Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista? Yea, he was young and undefeated once too and that's not a long time ago. He was also being called by Golden Boy as potentially better than Manny Pacquiao. Where is he now? 

Memo to Golden Boy: How about take some blame?

Why not admit to the world that you guys also made a mistake. Perhaps they rushed Ortiz who was certainly a diamond in the rough or that they simply overhyped the kid and now risk derailing his promising career for good. Just a few days ago, Oscar De la Hoya was on air on ESPN telling the whole world how Ortiz is better than Manny Pacquiao. I doubt that a lot believed him, but still- boxing does not get featured on ESPN often and as an ambassador of the sport, De la Hoya like others should feel some kind of responsibility to represent the sport of boxing in a more credible fashion. Think about the casual fans who saw that interview that have never heard of Ortiz or Pacquiao before. What will they think of the sport now in case the Ortiz bout was the first boxing show they actually tried to watch and saw how the supposedly most exciting and promising fighter in the planet just went down like that?

Let's just all be honest to ourselves here, Golden boy messed up. It's like starting a rookie blue-chip quarterback only to see him lose, get sacked, hurt and destroy his confidence setting him up for failure for the rest of his career. Ortiz knew who he was and where he was in his career, but I guess GBP was desperate for a new star to replace their retired Golden Boy- they were after all the ones saying Ortiz was "the next". Golden Boy can find and hype another Victor Ortiz or Boom Boom Bautista, but what happens to the talented prospects now? Had they been given more time to develop and learn, they could've very well exceeded their hype. Instead they face an uncertain future as they go back at the end of the line wherein few have been able to bounce back. 

I'm not saying Victor Ortiz has no part in this. He has taken responsibilty for his defeat. What more can you ask from the kid? He's a stand-up guy. I just wanted for the other people responsible for his loss to take responsibility for their part in it as well. Truth be told, the person most responsible for Ortiz's loss is Marcos Maidana. I guess GBP forgot to send him a copy of the script that said he was supposed to be the sacrificial lamb for the "chosen one". In that case, don't blame it on the source, kill the messenger.

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