Mayweather Vs. Ortiz - If You Were Ortiz's Trainer What Would The Game Plan be?

Aside from bringing a shotgun to the ring how do people see Ortiz possibly beating PBF? What tactics would you give Ortiz? No doubt Ortiz is up against it here, though I feel too many people are writing him off and I think he has a genuine chance here...

I would get Ortiz possibly beating him if he keeps his legs close together and not posturing a wide stance, he can drive and chase Floyd easier this way and hopefully win rounds on aggression in the same way De La Hoya did, by picking his moments as to when to strike, let's be honest with ourselves here if De La Hoya had the stamina to keep it up for 12 rounds then he would have nicked the decision in that fight. Instead when he was resting he was doing stupid things, he just stood there doing nothing but sitting in the killzone allowing Floyd to just pick him apart with left hooks and straight rights. If Ortiz is able to keep the work rate up and push Floyd back at the appropriate times I think he stands a chance of winning. With this tactic he will have to be clever with what he does in his resting periods and not allow Floyd to control him as much when he is, by staying elusive and moving away and making Floyd come to him.

The main problem with beating Mayweather is controlling range, in honesty I don't think I've ever seen a fighter than can control the range as well as Floyd can, when people get too close he holds and ties them up perfectly and the problem is when he is fighting an exceptionally good inside fighter he has the capabilities to beat them too. (See Hatton) He is a defensive master, if you start throwing be prepared to throw combo's if Ortiz decides to throw a single shot, he's going to be punished unless he can slip away (Which I doubt) when you throw combo's Mayweather uses his shoulder as a block and pulls his head down and leans away from you, naturally he is slightly off balance when he is doing this so whilst this is happening Ortiz needs to move to his left quickly and get the angle on him and throw another combo, chances are you could actually get through with this and back him up massively, making for eye catching scoring shots.

Key for Ortiz is aggression he has little else that majorly troubles Floyd. If he does the workrate tactics then he could possibly be leading him halfway and then al he needs is a couple of big rounds to take him on a 115 - 113 decision, though I struggle to see Ortiz putting all of this into motion, I think it's definately possible.

One major talking point I will say that I am very shocked not many other people have actually mentioned is how big will Ortiz be? He came in like a SMW against Berto, could the size and strength cause more problems couple this with his will and determination, could you get him to win this?

I understand not all of you will go into as much detail as I have but I do wonder how would you go about your game plan?

Think he has to try the Hatton approach..try to stop Mayweather working and basically mug him.....Try some rough stuff...

Going to have to be some one sharp to beat Floyd or someone tall with a good jab......Ortiz for me doesn't fit in either....So basically try and mug him.

he probably has to stop mayweather as he's unlikely won't get a decision against him i'd like to see him go to the body a lot because i think floyd would struggle to avoid those shots

Sustained body attack, but not reckless. Needs to be measured and tactical. Throw combinations when Floyd is rolling. And pray.

Floyd UD 120-108

If ghe goes to the body then he leaves himself open to counters..He won't be allowed to get off more than two shots at a time...

So my advice is to work his way inside without taking too much, tie him up, hit and hold and just try and mug him a la Hatton..on the inside

If he had more skill I'd have a different game plan..

Stays on the outside he'll be slapped.

I think he needs to find a mix in between De La Hoya's tactics and Hattons and he needs to execute it better than these two did with there gameplans - fists surely you can't be serious... 120-108? No chance aggression and work rate will win him a couple.

Think you are right Alex, but as Floyd never tires of pointing out there is no blueprint to beating him, and whilst high work rate, and pressure are usually the order of the day against a slick boxer like him, i'm fairly sure that Ortiz is not going to be as applying this gameplan as Floyd will be at executing his. His only real hope is that Flyod can't cope with his size and strenght, but can't see it myself

Yeah I'm confident it will be 120-108 mate, people are getting carried away with the Berto fight...just look back to the Peterson fight. Floyd will have him for breakfast without breaking sweat.

In honesty Fists I do also feel we are getting slightly carried away with the Berto result, I think mainly just because of the grit he showed and how good the fight was.

HOWEVER I think you have realised this fact and under rated Ortiz, he is quite a good technician with plenty of flair and grit. He will cause Floyd a couple of early problems in my opinion and catch a couple of rounds, there is no way that I can see Floyd winning 120- 108 as amazing as he is. Too big and too strong to do something like that to him, his will is also too strong and will remain competitive until the later rounds where I feel he will lose heart a bit.

I can see a 120-108 unless Floyd starts a bit slow, no way Ortiz wins anything if Floyd is switched on. Ortiz has no defence against a straight right hand and although Floyd isn't a big puncher he will land cleanly and consistently every round until it's stopped or for a full 12. Ortiz has zero chance.

120-118 to Mayweather, too much is made of the De La Hoya fight which wasn't anywhere near as close as the judges had it, high work rate and pressure may win you rounds in a close fight but I can't envisage the possibility of this being remotely close. Also need to consider that any close rounds would most probably go to Mayweather because well he's Floyd Mayweather.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:120-118 to Mayweather, too much is made of the De La Hoya fight which wasn't anywhere near as close as the judges had it, high work rate and pressure may win you rounds in a close fight but I can't envisage the possibility of this being remotely close. Also need to consider that any close rounds would most probably go to Mayweather because well he's Floyd Mayweather.

It's for the WBMexico though... you never know on the close rounds...

Lets be serious here for a second, any close rounds will go to Mayweather and if anything the WBC would want him to win anyway.

Well hopefully it will just be scored fairly as it should be.

Also do you think you could devise a gameplan using Ortiz's tools to beat PBF?

Put simply Ortiz isn't good enough to beat Mayweather, could do devise a whole host of gameplans but they wouldn't work as you need the raw material of a great fighter something Ortiz isn't.

I think, if we are being honest, there is only one fighter that is even capable of beating Floyd, and when I say capable I mean he could, not that he would.

I am of course talking about Manny Pacquaio, and it would take a Manny Pacquaio at his very best to run Floyd close. Pressure, punches in bunches, constant fast in and out foot movement, all of these are required, and all of these Manny has, but even then I couldn't call that fight with any conviction.

As Ghosty says, you need the raw material of a great fighter to even start devising a game plan, and Ortiz most certainly isn't that.

Ortiz is massive for the weight

Floyd will dispatch of this guy easily by UD

Im not quite a boxing genius like Enzo Calzaghe...but here are my 5 tips on beating Floyd

* Throw punches in bunches

* Snap jabs to avoid the counter

* Work on the body a lot

* Constantly complain about holding to the ref so he acts

* Keep on moving baby

Floyd isn't unbeatable... No doubt Ortiz doesn't stand much of a chance, but still think he could sneak a win, he has knocked down every opponent he has faced, I don't think thats an accident. It only takes a big punch and a good finish and it could spell the end. To say Ortiz isn't CAPABLE of beating him is silly. He has the capabilities, Man united are far better than Wolves yet Wolves snuck a win in against them last season. He has a chance, just not a very good one.

Like Fists said it doesn't matter really because Ortiz doesn't have the tools to do the job.

I agree with the Huck

Ortiz does look too big for the weight though doesnt he

Size - Power - Stamina to throw for 12 - Aggression - Heart - Fast Combinations , got enough tools there to do something in my opinion. Not saying it will be easy but I think you're under rating Ortiz somewhat here...

He's only ever beaten Berto who was relatively unproven, was poor against Peterson and lost to Maidana, he doesn't have a hope in hell of beating Mayweather.

Maidana - completely different type of fighter. Also I think we can agree that the chances are he was a bit weight drained at 140 given the fact he was basically a SMW coming in against Berto. Think he's gonna be much better than he was against Peterson

Maidana has no skill yet was able to land at will on Ortiz, if someone so limited can do it then imagine what a sharpshooter like Mayweather is going to, bit too easy to say he's going to somehow perform better than he ever has before, even looking at the Berto fight he was too easy to hit.

No doubt but I don't think he's going to be relying on his defensive skills.

I don't think Ortiz will win. But I don't think he has no chance, he has a shot just a slim one. An all out blitzing attack and see if he can break through the impregnable fortress that is PBF's defense. If he does that and breaks through he can win. It's not really a matter of him being hit, it's him hitting PBF.

Then again I very much doubt that Ortiz punches harder than an albeit ageing Shane Mosley so him getting hit is a big big deal when he's unlikely to land a knockout blow, if I break through Mayweathers defence with a shot from hell I have a chance of winning but doesn't change the fact it's never going to happen.

Probably hits about as hard probably has more physical strength than Mosley aswell. If he gets the tactics and the work rate right or he lands the big punches he can win... Don't think you can argue just it's a slim chance.

I very much doubt he hits as hard as Mosley who stopped the granite chinned Margarito while Ortiz couldn't get rid of Berto which suggests if Mosley couldn't down Mayweather after landing two hail marys then it's highly unlikely that Ortiz will. Tactically he has no chance of outboxing Mayweather which leaves landing one killer blow which again is highly unlikely, everyone always has a chance but for instance if Hatton fought differently against Pacquiao the result wouldn't have changed, there is too big a gap in quality.

Berto has a strong chin aswell and Mosley didn't stop guys with weaker chins than Berto bit of a non-arguement really...

Bertos chin isn't anywhere near as good as Margaritos, Mosley proved his power in that fight while Ortiz proved he has good power but not great power, hardly a non argument.

We don't know the level of Berto's chin and how far he can be taken, he has never been stopped and never really looked like being stopped before the Ortiz fight...

He wouldn't getting knocked down by non entities if his chin was on the same level as Margarito.

I must have missed this...? When did he get knocked down by non-entities?

Answer me this who the hell is Cosme Rivera?

I didn't know he got knocked down by him?

Also the first time his chin gets tested he's all over the place, can't say the same for Margarito who's stood up to best punches of Cotto, Pacquiao, Santos, Williams and Cintron, those men can all punch.

Agree with Ghosty here Ortiz has no chance. After a few rounds of eating every straight right Floyd throws and landing next to nothing himself I can see him going into survival mode.

Wonder what the odds on Ortiz quitting mid fight would be?

He won't and he'll win a few rounds just lose decisively, but he has a chance, I don't really think Floyd has such great power to put Ortiz into survival mode but could see a possible late stoppage. Floyd will fight aggressive again though I'll tell you that for sure.

He put the likes of Shane Mosley and Arturo Gatti into survival mode so see little reason why Ortiz would be any different, from what you've seen of the two fighters rather than what we haven't seen is there anything to suggest Mayweather has any trouble with him?

Gatti was at a lower weight. Mosley wasn't in survival mode though he did back him up, but never truly went in for the kill.

Mosley was in survival mode for most of the fight after about the third round and while Gatti was at a lower weight you seem to be overlooking that all but one of Ortiz's fights were too.

Yes but I think it's been made clear that Ortiz was slightly weight drained and is one of the biggest WW I've ever seen, also I wouldn't go as far to say Mosley was in survival mode he was backed up by some shots but he was never in any real danger of being stopped unless the ref took pity on him, he was stung and knocked backwards a few times from the pristine punches of Floyd but his legs never give way he was throwing back just not able to land due to the nigh on perfection of Floyd.

I don't think someone who is weight drained gets down to the limit as many times as Ortiz did personally, seems far too easy now to make excuses for fighters when they lose. Ortiz is a decent boxer coming of a good win but he's nothing more than that, if you wish to beat Mayweather or at least stand a chance against him you don't quit against the likes of Maidana. It was Mosley retreating throughout the fight that enabled him to see the final bell, he didn't commit to his punches in fear of the quick counter.

Hm... Call it a stretch to say he was in "Survival mode" but I guess it's one of those phrases that you make your own interpretation on... For example I would say being in survival mode would be Hatton after he was knocked down for the first time against MP he was in survival mode, rocked legs shaky and absolutely no punches being thrown just wanting to hold, thats my definition of being in survival mode. To an extent I do agree with you, it does seem like an excuse to say he was weight drained and an excuse that gets bandied around too much when a fighter is beaten or performs badly then moves up and does ok again, but I see the correlation in Ortiz moving up and looking better than he ever has and beating Berto. Get a feeling he was slightly drained given how big he was at the weight and the fact he was a young man still forming his body out.

With Hatton it was a case of fight or flight after being knocked down, he was in shock at Pacquiaos power rather than making an actual decision to do it, it was instinctive.

Instictive - hence survival mode, thats my definition of it, where you don't have anything else to do other than survive, when you're in major danger, Mosley had a choice to go for it, most probably he would have been countered and stung again and again but he could easily see out the 12 if he wanted to and chose to.

Mosley chose to survive rather than put a concerted effort into winning, there are two very different cases of survival mode and once Hatton had regrouped slightly after the first round he went straight back out in an effort to win which had disastrous consequences.

Hatton was in survival mode and was out and out saved due to the bell, and then lasted the near duration of the first round because MP went off the gameplan and went for the kill straight out and wasn't quite as effective, but rechanged partway through to put Hatton into virtually what must have been a coma.
I think the difference is Hatton didn't have any other choice but to grab hold and survive whereas Mosley did, so for me it's not survival mode.