Mayweather vs. Ortiz: Bizarre Outcome Another Setback for Boxing

Minutes after Floyd Money Mayweather knocked out Vicious Victor Ortiz in the 4^th round of their WBC Welterweight Title bout on Saturday, the predictable responses started to pour in.

Mayweather vs Ortiz is a perfect example of why UFC has killed the sport of boxing. That fight was a total joke and the post fight was sad! tweeted Dave Mercer, host of a TV fishing show.

Interview better than the fight! But Mayweather/Ortiz controversy shows in microcosm why boxing is being eclipsed by UFC and MMA in general, tweeted Richard Conway.

Now it will be another 10 years until I watch boxing again. Pathetic. Thank you #MMA for giving us a sport we can respect!! tweeted Mike Thorwart.

There were countless others on Twitter that said pretty much the same thing. In the wake of Mayweather's controversial knockout, the only thing that got punched harder than Ortiz was boxing's credibility.

You all know the story by now. After Ortiz got deducted one point for head-butting Mayweather during the fourth round, chaos reigned. Ortiz complained to referee Joe Cortez. After Ortiz apologized, him and Mayweather hugged, indicating the fight was ready to continue. Cortez gave the go ahead but for some reason did not bring the fighters back to neutral corners.

Ortiz stood there and left himself exposed for a brief second when Mayweather popped him with a left hook. Ortiz staggered back and Mayweather pounced with a right hand. Ortiz couldn't answer the 10 count and Mayweather won.

The ref said something, so I looked up and I thought he called a break. I'm pretty sure he did. Then, boom! I guess it was time for bed, Ortiz said after the fight.

Mayweather countered by saying boxers should be protecting themselves at all times. He said he was willing to give Ortiz a rematch.

The crowd was decidedly pissed that the fight, which had been hyped for weeks, ended this prematurely.

After the fight, Mayweather got in a verbal spar with legendary 80-year-old announcer Larry Merchant over what happened. Mayweather accused Merchant of never giving him a fair shake.

You never give me a fair shake, HBO needs to fire you. You don't know s--t about boxing. You ain't s---. You not s----, Mayweather said.

If it sounds ugly, it was. This was probably the worst case scenario for boxing as a sport. It's not surprising a large majority of combat fans went to Twitter after to dismiss the sport and promote mixed-martial-arts. Mixed-martial-arts has had its fair share of controversial finishes - but nothing like this.

The controversial finish did nothing to dismiss critics' notion that boxing as a sport has a shady, complicated underside. Some people are even suggesting Ortiz took a dive (a cardinal sin in boxing).

What exactly happened, what was said between the ref, Ortiz and Mayweather is not clear. We'll probably get three sides of this story from now until eternity.

In a fight that could have helped promote boxing as a legitimate entertaining sport, capable of making stars overnight, we got a spectacle that represented pro wrestling. I'm surprised Vince McMahon didn't walk down the aisle and demand someone ring the damn bell when Ortiz fell to the mat.

Meanwhile, Mayweather will continue to duck and dodge the only money fight boxing has left against Pacquiao. After the fight, he gave no indications that he'd be willing to fight Pacquiao in the near future. He simply continued to attack Pacquiao for not adhering to his drug tests. The fight continues to look like a pipe dream for boxing fans.

At the end of the day, Ortiz got KO'ed but it was boxing as a sport that took one to the gut this past weekend.