Victor Ortiz believes Logan Paul is a bigger threat to Floyd Mayweather than Conor McGregor . I believe it’s a dangerous combo.
One recent Sunday afternoon, former boxing champ Victor Ortiz went to Logan Paul’s house in Encino, Calif., and watched the YouTube star knock out the last of three partners in the final round of a sparring session.
“Holy crap,” were Ortiz’s words as Paul, his longtime friend, ended another session in preparation for a Feb. 20 exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather.
“Mind you, these are full-on professional boxers,” Ortiz told MMA Fighting. “I sat back in shock and awe. He was so composed and relaxed. He used his reach perfect – took a little step, hook down the middle, sleep. Night-night.
“My only complaint there is that he didn’t read him a bedtime story.”
Ortiz knows some fight fans will groan at this story. Training camp stories can be real, but they are also some of the oldest tall tales told in the fight game. Even the knockdowns caught on tape – see Conor McGregor vs. Paulie Malignaggi – are the subject of heated dispute.
Real or not – and questions remain about how real the Paul vs. Mayweather fight will be – a stamp of approval from a former champion is a valuable plug. It’s one Ortiz, whose lapse in attention famously cost him a win against Floyd Mayweather in 2011, is happy to give to Paul. Whatever the critics want to say, it’s no bother.
“I know what I know, and I know what I see,” Ortiz said. “What I’m saying, in a sense, is that he will give Floyd trouble.”
Loyalty is important to Ortiz, who first met Paul six years ago and calls him “a real one.” That’s why he is offering whatever help he can three weeks into his own camp for a targeted return on the main camp of a Jan. 30 fight card featuring super middleweight champ Caleb Plant vs. Caleb Truax.
