Star Power Hits New York City
One doesn’t attend press conferences for the food, slide shows and music. It’s all about the fighters…
It’s been a long time since I attended a boxing press conference. But I decided that it was time for a change, a time to revisit old haunts, as it were, for three reasons. The first was that the press conference was to announce Floyd Mayweather’s long-awaited return to the ring against Victor Ortiz (finally). The second was to see if anything had changed with boxing press conferences (nope). And the third was if see if my presence made anybody nervous (it did).
Tuesday’s press conference was held at the Hudson Theatre in midtown Manhattan, a jewel box of a theater that was designed in 1903, and was slated to begin at noon. But the press was invited an hour early, before the public was allowed on the premises, to partake of lunch.
Sometimes the lunches that precede press conferences are catered affairs, and sometimes press conferences are held at Zagat-rated restaurants. This time, however, the grub was standard fare, factory food, nitrate-laced sandwiches, with brownies cut into the size of postage stamps for dessert. None of it, in my humble opinion, was fit for man or beast, which didn’t prevent the press from wolfing down all they could eat, thus disproving the adage that there’s no free lunch, or any such thing as taste.
Like most press conferences, this one started late. Fortunately, we were treated to a slide show accompanied by music to help kill time and aid digestion. But there was a problem. The 10-minute slide show, which ran on an endless loop, featured photos of “Money” Mayweather and Victor Ortiz interspersed with shots from the Hubble telescope. And the 10-minute loop of music, if one can call computer-generated noise music, was portentous to a fault, with the boom boom boom of synthesized kettle drums signaling significance and hurting the ears.
It all looked and sounded vaguely intergalactic. But it wasn’t until I glanced down at my press pass and saw that the fight between Mayweather and Ortiz was called Star Power, that everything sort of made sense.
But one doesn’t attend press conferences for the food, slide shows and music. It’s all about the fighters. After introductory remarks by several noncombatants, Mayweather and Ortiz had their say.
Ortiz was the first fighter to speak. He is young, he is cocky, and he is itching for a fight. Before he won the WBC welterweight title by decisioning Andre Berto in April, people focused on his two losses, specifically his last loss, a TKO6 to Marcos Maidana in 2009, and accused him, of all things, of having no heart.
“I understand all the love-hate type stuff,” said Ortiz. “It is part of the game. But tell me one thing I haven’t already heard.
“My mom and dad, they left me. People who loved me, they left me. I’ve been through a bunch of [stuff], are you kidding me? For somebody to sit there and tell me how to live my life, or try to dictate how I should live my life, that makes me laugh. I don’t care.”
Ortiz recalled when he first decided that he would one day fight Mayweather. He was 16 years old at the time.
“We were sitting down watching a Mayweather fight and [my trainer Robert Garcia]—he’s not the nicest person toward us sometimes—said, ‘You can’t be in there with him. He’s way too classy. You’re not in his class.’
“But no one is going to tell me how to live my life. I don’t care. I’m here to fight.”
Mayweather too was here to fight. But he’s the established fighter, the undefeated old pro. And while he’s as confident and cocky as his opponent, stylistically they’re worlds apart.
“I’m a lot older, a lot wiser,” Mayweather said. “I’m closer to 40 than I am 21. But I look forward to going out there. I’m not going to be moving. It’s going to be like the Shane Mosley fight. I’m going to bring the pressure in the middle of the squared circle.”
Mayweather acknowledged that he’s been on a long a hiatus, and explained why he’s been missing from active duty for such a long time.
“I’ve been away from the sport awhile because I wanted to choose the right opponent,” he said. “But also, I wanted to grow closer to my family, my mother, my children,” three of whom were with him on the dais.
“My ultimate goal is for my son and my daughter to never work again.”
That’s a noble goal, and one which I wish my father had subscribed to. But he didn’t, or couldn’t, so I have no choice but to keep on typing.
“I am excited to get back in the ring,” continued Mayweather, “because Victor Ortiz is a great challenge for me. Ortiz is a young, fast, and very strong champion, so this is not going to be easy. He’s trying to dethrone me. My job is to go out there and fight like I always do.
“I will prepare myself with the same dedication I have always had for my fights and show fans around the world that I am the best boxer in the world today. I am also looking forward to fighting on Mexican Independence Day weekend. I love all my fans and know I have a lot of Mexican fans cheering for me too.
“I want to thank you guys (the fans),” who were hooting and hollering in the balconies, “for all your support over the years. This not my last fight. I want to stay active in the sport of boxing. Hopefully I can give you guys 10 more fights.”
Despite all the talk, the silent elephant in the room was the very absent Manny Pacquiao.
“After this fight,” said Mayweather, “if I’m able to negotiate a Pacquiao fight, it could happen. [Ortiz] is a southpaw. That could lead to the Pacquiao fight. If it does or it doesn’t, I’m not going to stop fighting.”
We certainly don’t want to see Mayweather stop fighting. He’s a once in a lifetime talent, and the more he fights, the better it is for boxing.
“Hopefully Manny Pacquiao steps up to the plate and takes the test so we can fight. I’m waiting for the fight to happen. I’m taking one step at a time.”
