Floyd Mayweather sued Victor Ortiz for $200k after controversial fight

It is remembered as one of the most controversial fights in boxing’s long and storied history.

When Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz locked horns at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in September 2011, onlookers were left stunned.

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In the fourth round of the bad-tempered bout, Ortiz forced Mayweather up against the ropes and landed an intentional headbutt.

The blatant foul prompted referee Joe Cortez to step in and take a point.

Ortiz immediately turned apologetic and embraced Mayweather.

But as he did, ‘TBE’ detonated a left hook onto Ortiz’s unprotected jaw.

Confused as to whether the action had been resumed, ‘Vicious’ looked bewilderedly at Cortez before he was sent tumbling to the canvas by a follow-up right hand.

Ortiz was subsequently counted out on his hands and knees as a cacophony of boos rang around the arena.

It marked a disastrous end to Ortiz’s short-lived reign as WBC welterweight champion.

However, that isn’t where his misfortunes ended.

Mayweather takes Ortiz to court

“He [Mayweather] sued me a week after the fight for headbutting him, no joke,” Ortiz told talkSPORT.com 15 years removed from the infamous clash.

“The result was that he got 200 grand from me.

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“But you live, and you learn. You let it go. Realistically, I was young.

“Maybe I should not have headbutted him, but if he hadn’t elbowed me those 16 times, it wouldn’t have resulted in that otherwise.

“There are a lot of things we can sit here and point out, but at the end of the day, it ended. He got what he wanted: a victory.

“Was it foul play? It wasn’t found to be illegal, but I thought it was foul play.

“I have my opinion, and he has his; they made it a whole thing about protecting yourself at all times, which, to a point, I can understand.

“But when they are taking a point from you, it is a break.

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“Now, imagine if the roles were reversed, if I got sued, let’s look at the reality.

“I hit so hard that I would have broken his jaw, so I probably would have gone to jail.

“If I went to court, I probably would have gone to jail. So maybe I was saved in a sense.

“At the end of the day, there are no hard feelings towards Floyd.

“But in that ring, he has taught me one important lesson: don’t be nice to people in there.”

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