Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz: 10 Reasons Ortiz Could Crush Money

Floyd Mayweather Jr squares off with Victor Ortiz Saturday night at 9pm ET at the legendary MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mayweather (41-0, 25 Knockouts) is undefeated and has shown time and time again that his masterful skills at defense and his awe-inspiring speed and agility can spell doom against proven contenders, but Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 Knockouts) is more than just a contender.

He's a 24-year-old Mexican beast on a mission to prove his worth, affirm his desire and illustrate his ability in vivid HD and color live on HBO Pay-Per-View September 17.

Mayweather doesn't have anything to prove, he's older, he's less active and his lifestyle is coming undone with every breaking news report that illuminates a new court case or family quarrel.

After taking a closer look at the factors Mayweather has to overcome to maintain his perfect record against someone as vicious as Ortiz, ten reasons why Mayweather may lose come to mind.

10. Lack of Power

One of the most immediate advantages Ortiz has is his power.

A startling statistic shows that Ortiz has knocked down nearly every opponent he has ever faced, including the man he took his WBC world championship belt from, Andre Berto (28-1, 22 Knockouts).

Mayweather hasn't knocked out an opponent since 2007, when he fought Rick Hatton (45-2, 32 Knockouts). Before that, he hadn't stopped an opponent since 2005.

Mayweather doesn't stop his opponents often, but Ortiz drops his opponents even in defeat. Ortiz suffered a surprise loss to Marcos Maidana (30-2, 27 Knockouts) after Maidana was knocked down three times.

The difference between Maidana and Mayweather, is Maidana had the power to keep the aggressive Ortiz at bay. Mayweather can't say the same.

9. Bad Start

Mayweather is called a "machine" by many writers for the way he usually studies his opponents for two to three rounds, before he begins to dominate them with his pitch-perfect timing.

During this time, Mayweather is extremely vulnerable. As many witnessed in his 2006 fight with Zab Judah (41-7, 28 Knockouts), Mayweather was knocked off balance and his glove touched the canvas.

That could have been scored a knockdown had the referee seen it. By Round 4 though, Mayweather was in full control of the competition.

Mayweather was knocked off balance in the first round of his fight with Ricky Hatton before Mayweather eventually dominated to win by his only knockout in the past five years.

Most notably, and recently, in his fight against Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 Knockouts), Mayweather was rocked by a Mosley punch and had to hold on to survive the round. He dominated from the next round on.

If Ortiz can do the same as any of these men who have distressed Mayweather at the beginning of the fight, he can take Mayweather out.

All Ortiz would have to do is be aggressive and use his power to catch Mayweather before he's done analyzing and takes control of the matchup.

8. Family Problems

Mayweather was taught boxing by his father, Floyd Mayweather Sr.

Mayweather Sr went to prison for drug trafficking. His uncle Roger Mayweather took over.

Mayweather's father got out of prison and wanted to take over again. Mayweather clashed with his once absent father and Roger became his permanent trainer.

Though they have often claimed to have repaired the relationship, the rift is still evident in the ugly brawl of words father and son slew at each other on the first episode of HBO's documentary series 24/7 that is used to hype Mayweather's upcoming battle with Ortiz.

The rift hasn't harmed Mayweather's performances before, but something so volatile and so close to Mayweather's heart may have finally poisoned his boxing endeavors after years of accumulation.

7. Bad Gameplan

Mayweather has been called the smartest boxer in boxing. He has great gameplans, great skills, and most importantly: great on-the-spot adjustments in his gameplan.

These adjustments have proven to be harder to make against southpaws (left handed fighters)—they give him trouble. These adjustments have also been proven to take a longer if the fighter is more aggressive.

Ortiz is a highly aggressive southpaw. That doesn't prove to be something that favors Mayweather's usual style of making adjustments.

Against someone with such confusing aspects for Mayweather to figure out, he might need more rounds than ever before to figure Ortiz out.

By then, Mayweather could be asleep on the canvas or too far behind to nab a decision.

6. Aggressive Opponent

Ortiz was always aggressive in boxing. When he lost to Maidana by TKO in Round 6, Ortiz struggled to find his groove.

When he stepped up to face Berto, Ortiz found his groove with even more aggression than he ever had in his life.

Berto is a true knockout puncher, arguably a harder puncher than Maidana or Ortiz, but Ortiz walked through Berto's punches like they were feathers.

Ortiz came to win, kill, maim anyone in the way of world championship glory. Berto was in the way of Ortiz's glory, so he beat him—something no one Berto had faced up until that point could accomplish.

Mayweather has faced aggressive foes, but has he faced one so determined? The answer is no. September 17 will show just how well Mayweather does against such aggressive opposition.

5. Complacency

Mayweather is a boxing genius, that cannot be argued against thanks to what he has shown in the ring.

But in the past few years, his opposition has either been smaller or older than himself. That's not to say he's ducked any younger and stronger opponents, but he's went to where the money is rather than the challenge.

Younger opponents need to build their name, whereas older boxers come equipped with a huge name to sellout stadiums and amass big pay-per-view sales.

Facing Ortiz is a HUGE risk for Mayweather with very little payoff that Mayweather couldn't have earned against a lesser foe. 

Ortiz is strong, fast and hungry. He'll fight differently from what Mayweather has faced the past four years.

Will Mayweather be able to adjust or will he just be complacent from a string of rich celebrity opponents no longer hungry for more?

4. Court Cases

Mayweather has had court cases during his fights. One of the more notable examples was in 2005, when a domestic violence case threatened his clash with Arturo Gatti (40-9, 31 Knockouts).

His girlfriend at the time, Josie Harris, claimed he punched and kicked her. She later recanted her testimony, calling Mayweather a teddy bear.

Late last year, Harris told police that Mayweather took her phone and beat her out of jealousy of a text she received.

Since then, Mayweather racked up cases from security guards that he's threatened and even superstar boxer Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 Knockouts) has a defamation suit against Mayweather over accusations of steroid use.

With such an unprecedented amount of court cases piling up against Mayweather, he may lose focus (even if only a little) and that will cost him the victory over Ortiz.

3. Inactivity

Mayweather returned to boxing after an eight-month absence from the ring following a May 22 2004 fight against Demarcus Corley (37-17-1, 22 Knockouts) to a January 22 2005 fight against Henry Bruseles (27-3-1, 15 Knockouts).

Mayweather has returned to boxing again after a twenty-one-month absence from the ring following a battle against Rick Hatton on December 8 2007 to battle Juan Manuel Marquez (53-5-1, 39 Knockouts) on September 19 2009.

He's won both of those fights, but now he is 34 years-of-age and coming back after a sixteen-month absence. His last fight was against Shane Mosley during May 2010.

Bruseles was obviously a tune-up, he had no elite experience. Marquez had the elite experience, but was fighting two weight classes above his natural weight class, making that fight a glorified tuneup.

Considering his opponent's size and strength, can Mayweather overcome Ortiz after coming straight off another long absence?

2. Age

Mayweather is 34 years old. His opponent is 24 years old.

At age 34, Sugar Ray Leonard (36-3-1, 25 Knockouts) lost for the first time since his first defeat at the hands of Roberto Duran (104-16, 69 Knockouts) over ten years prior. Leonard's opponent was a 23-year-old Terry Norris (47-9, 31 Knockouts).

At age 35, Pernell Whitaker (40-4-1, 17 Knockouts) suffered his first legitimate loss. Many considered his previous losses questionable. Whitaker's opponent was a 26-year-old Felix Trinidad (42-3, 35 Knockouts).

Mayweather hasn't taken the wear and tear of some of his peers, but he does fight in a more flat-footed stance. He's less lateral in his movement, possibly a sign that he's aging.

In his last fight, Mayweather was caught with a few extremely hard punches that some say a younger Mayweather would've dodged or avoided easily.

At age 33, Mayweather displayed these two potential signs of age catching up with him. The displays were against a 38-year-old Mosley who may not have been young enough to take advantage of Mayweather's age.

Mayweather is now 34. Ortiz, his opponent, is 24. If Mayweather has aged, Ortiz will surely take advantage and repeat an interesting trend in boxing history. 

1. Wrong Inspiration

Mayweather sat ringside to the Berto vs Ortiz fight this past April with an invitation from his friend 50 Cent.

Mayweather was just as wowed and amazed as everyone else in the audience. The two young 20-somethings went at it like death would come to the loser. Ortiz eventually ended up the victor.

Mayweather immediately made plans and signed a contract to face Ortiz. Mayweather really enjoyed the fight and felt inspired to fight the winner, going on record numerous times to say he's going to come forward in this fight.

Does Mayweather really mean that? Mayweather has always been a defensive fighter, meaning he wasn't always willing to trade. If he comes forward, rest assured that he and Ortiz will trade.

When Sugar Ray Leonard stopped dancing around the ring to bring the pain to Roberto Duran in a flat-footed trading war, Leonard suffered the first loss of his career.

Sometimes, when something is good, you stick to it. Change for no reason except to change can sometimes do irreversible harm, especially in boxing.

Another aspect of the fight that's been mentioned is Ortiz's similarities to Manny Pacquiao. Reporters have noted hat Ortiz is a fast hard-hitter with a southpaw stance.

Pacquiao also hits hard, is really fast, and has a southpaw stance. Many believe the biggest fight in boxing would be between Mayweather and Pacquiao, so Mayweather fighting Ortiz naturally seems like preparation, though to overlook Ortiz is highly dangerous.

Ortiz is not a dumb fighter with power, he can think, he can hit, and he can be nonstop with a tornado of punches that, if landed, could end a fight at any time.

If Mayweather doesn't look at Ortiz and only Ortiz and fights the way he knows and is accustomed to fighting, he could be in the most danger he's ever been in his boxing career.