Devon Alexander robbed against Victor Ortiz with a draw
Devon Alexander and Victor Ortiz fought for a chance to re-ignite their stalled careers. Instead, their chance was taken away by the judges who mistakenly scored this bout a draw.
Victor Ortiz and Devon Alexander are former world champions but that was a long time ago. Ortiz held the WBC welterweight title in 2011 and Alexander was the IBF champion in 2012. Then, their careers started to implode.
Ortiz’s chin started to fail after he was knocked out several times and Alexander was just beaten by better boxers. He also became addicted to painkillers which obviously impacted him negatively.
It’s been six years since either of these boxers has been considered a top-tier welterweight talent and both men needed to win this fight if they wanted a chance at a second act.
In the first round, Ortiz established himself as the aggressor and Alexander stayed on the outside. This was no surprise, but Ortiz took the round by being more active.
They continued the same roles in the second round but Alexander stepped in with several right-left combos. He picked his punches intelligently and a cut opened up on the right side of Ortiz, scoring the round for Alexander.
Alexander and Ortiz mixed it up early in the third round, Alexander’s right-hook landed repeatedly which won him the round. Ortiz landed as well, but Alexander was more accurate. However, Alexander’s right eye started to swell.
Alexander timed Ortiz well early on in the fourth round. Ortiz tried to pressure him coming in straight on, and he was countered with each attempt. Ortiz landed several meaningful punches with 1:20 remaining, but Alexander countered down the stretch.
Not much happened in the fifth round, which Alexander probably won with accurate punching. A flurry did erupt in the last ten seconds, and Alexander got the better of it.
The difference in hand speed was painfully evident in the sixth round. Ortiz threw lazy punches that were easily countered by Alexander, who sped up while Ortiz slowed down.
Ortiz closed the distance in the seventh round. Alexander tied him up much of the time, but Ortiz did put in some work to the body. It was a close round to score and a mouse started to form under Ortiz’s left eye.
Ortiz landed early in the eighth, but Alexander continued to put on a boxing clinic. They exchanged powerful hooks midway through the round. The pace slowed a bit with several small pockets of action.
The fight got sloppy in the ninth round, Alexander’s movement slowed and Ortiz was able to find him more regularly. They got tangled in the center of the ring and their punches became fatigued. It was hard to tell who got the best of their scraps, but Alexander had a slight edge because he was more accurate.
By the 10th, Ortiz was well behind on the cards, or so it seemed. He pressed the action out of desperation. He put in some good work but also ate several uppercuts for his efforts. Alexander looked like he took the round off, so this one went to Ortiz.
The 11th belonged to Alexander. He seemed re-invigorated as he stalked Ortiz around the ring. He pressed the action for much of the round which was a role reversal. Alexander landed at will and took the fight out of Ortiz.
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Nothing crazy happened in the 12th and it looked like Alexander was on his way to an easy unanimous decision. Shockingly, the fight was called a majority draw. Alexander didn’t win the fight on any judges scorecard. Two of the judges had it 114-114, while Don Griffin horrendously had it 115-113 for Ortiz.
Alexander deserved to win this fight unanimously, but life isn’t fair. This will go down as another example of awful judging in boxing. Alexander and Ortiz receive a draw, which is really a loss for both of them. No progress was made by either boxer. They are still stuck in boxing purgatory and will have to wait for their next fights if they want to try a realize their dreams of a comeback.