The 140-pound bout featured five knockdowns and several wild
momentum swings that both thrilled and stunned a Staples Center crowd
of 8,600 expecting to witness another step in the evolution of the
22-year-old Ortiz, a charismatic slugger ticketed for stardom by
promoter Oscar De La Hoya.
Instead, the fans marveled at a
remarkably resilient U.S. debut by Maidana (26-1, 25 KOs) a
heavy-handed 140-pounder largely unknown outside his native land and
Germany, where he has fought six times in the last two years.
Maidana
was knocked down three times in the opening two rounds, yet rallied
with a devastating right hand that turned Ortiz's face into a mess.
After Ortiz stumbled to the canvas early in the sixth, the ringside
doctor stopped the fight.
"I knew I was fighting against the
local guy, and I had to knock him out," said Maidana, whose only
previous loss was a contentious split decision to Andreas Kotelnik
earlier this year. "I went down, but I got up because I have a big
heart. I saw that Victor felt my punches, and I said, 'I know I can win
this.'"
Ortiz (24-2-1), who held a comically large bag of ice to
his swollen face afterward, acknowledged he entered the ring thinking
about the bright lights, the chanting fans and the pressure --
everything but Maidana, who also knocked him flat in the first round
and then eagerly accepted Ortiz's invitation to brawl.
"It didn't
hit me until I was on my way to the ring," Ortiz said. "I was like,
'Whoa.' It just really messed with me, and I didn't perform. ... I just
fought a dumb fight. I didn't listen to my corner."
Although De
La Hoya insisted Ortiz still is a budding champion, the Kansas native
took too many big shots while fighting with no discernible strategy.
Ortiz connected on 42 percent of his 177 punches, but Maidana was much
busier with 293 punches, connecting with 23 percent.
"Yeah, he went down," De La Hoya said. "But he'll get right back up and fulfill his dream."
Both
fighters moved forward furiously from the opening bell, and Ortiz
knocked down Maidana for the first time on a big right hand with about
1:15 left. With the crowd standing and cheering for Ortiz, Maidana
landed a right hand that put Ortiz flat on his back.
The crowd
was as stunned as Ortiz. The second round was even more electric, with
the boxers trading shots until Ortiz knocked down Maidana with a right
hook with about 30 seconds left -- and then did it again with a shorter
version of the same punch right before the bell.
But Maidana
landed several big shots in the next three rounds, rocking Ortiz with
two powerful right hands in the final seconds of the fifth. Ortiz also
developed that big cut, which gaped open when the fight ended 46
seconds into the sixth.
"I came to look to finish him, and that's
what happened," Maidana said. "He hits very hard, but he doesn't have a
good chin. Definitely he didn't adjust to my rhythm."
Chris John,
the Indonesian featherweight champion who backed out of his co-main
event rematch with Rocky Juarez this week because of an illness,
appeared in the ring before the final bout. He waved to several hundred
flag-waving Indonesian fans who bought tickets thinking they would see
John's second fight in this country.
The undercard fighters
entered the ring to the strains of remixed Michael Jackson songs, and
Ortiz made his ring walk to a "Beat It" and "Thriller" mash-up. A
ceremonial 10-count was rung in honor of the pop star who died Thursday
in Holmby Hills, about 12 miles from Staples Center. Jackson spent many
nights rehearsing at the arena during the past two months for his 50
scheduled summer appearances in London.
