It’s survival of the foulest

Would’ve Floyd Mayweather Jr. resorted to that sneak killer combination, a favorite among hooligans, had he not been provoked into fighting a dirty fight?
It’s hard to tell.
Going by Mayweather’s reputation, he could play foul both with mouth and fist, minus proper provocation.
What was even harder to fathom was the sickening dip in the fierceness of the inexperienced defending world welterweight boxing champion.
Victor Ortiz, nicknamed Vicious, suddenly curled into a remorseful, romantic worm after he was penalized for rabid headbutting in the fourth round.
* * *
It’s odd, but Ortiz was also observed kissing his celebrated opponent on the cheek.
They touched gloves, signaling the battle was officially on.
Did Ortiz still wait for referee Joe Cortez, a Hall-of-Famer, to repeat the routine line, “Protect yourselves at all times,” during the unscheduled lull?
He dropped his guard at a moment when there was a frantic need for one.
Next time we saw him, Ortiz was down, toppled by a combination, the foulest, dirtiest seen so far inside a championship ring.
* * *
Had Ortiz also been fed with fairy tales or stories from Camelot—when chivalry was in full blossom—in the run-up to the big bout?
Truth to tell, Ortiz openly started an ugly jungle war when he charged head-on and gored Mayweather like a maddened bull in a neutral corner.
It could be out of frustration or Ortiz, pummeled silly in the earlier rounds, must’ve finally realized his only chance was in turning the one-sided contest into a dock yard brawl.
* * *
A couple of hours before the fight, this reporter was forced to tell a radio interviewer there was only one way Ortiz could hope to muster a chance at winning.
It would be a boxing bout, wherein Mayweather is an established genius, so Ortiz should avoid playing into the hands of his opponent.
As fate would have it, it came to a truly frustrating point when Ortiz was left to continually punch at shadows.
The dazzled, dazed defending champion next tried to literally take the fight out of the legit ring.
* * *
But Ortiz again forgot one basic rule of the jungle.
It’s you kill or be killed; although this time out, it was no longer a case of the fiercest prevailing.
It would indeed be hard to condone Mayweather, talented as he is, for the misdeed that slurred and gave the sport an unsavory image.
Ortiz, for the record, was also to blame for that blasphemy against boxing.
Yes, Mayweather did succeed again, but this time, he was a total anomaly.
Mayweather, more of a foul wind, vividly demonstrated that, in an open jungle war, it’s not the fiercest, but rather the dirtiest and the foulest which prevails.
* * *
(READY SAMARITANS: That urgent call for help from Vic Galme, a former boxer who suffered a heart stroke and has been confined at the Amang Rodriguez Hospital in Marikina City, failed to reach the intended persons. But international matchmaker Jun Sarreal reports with gladness and gratitude that lawyer Ding Corpuz, Justice Surongon and Boy Ayson, past president of Rotary Club of Rizal mid-east, have readily come to Galme’s rescue. Mabuhay.)