Mayweather vs. Ortiz 24/7 is Must See TV

By Kirk Johnson

Yes ladies and gentlemen he is back.

After a 16 month absence from the ring, boxing’s brightest super star will be returning to the squared circle in his highly anticipated comeback fight against the young, talented champion, “Vicious” Victor Ortiz.

The ever so controversial Floyd “Money” Mayweather is slated to return September 17th at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, in what is sure to be a Pay-Per View Extravaganza.

And what’s a huge mega fight without extensive coverage to coincide with this event?

Seemingly as an every fight ritual since it’s inception in 2007 with the Mayweather vs. De La Hoya blockbuster, HBO will be providing viewers with an in depth look at each fighter leading up to the fight with a four part reality show entitled “24/7 Mayweather-Ortiz”.

For those who don’t know, the show “24/7” is an Emmy award winning sports documentary/reality show from HBO, revolving around sportsmen or sports organizations leading up to a particular major sporting event.

In this case, it is the highly publicized bout between Mayweather and Ortiz.

The show “24/7” is a gateway entrance into each fighter’s world of training, family life, and social life.

Mayweather along with Hall of Fame fighter Oscar De La Hoya participated in the inaugural season of “24/7” and since its inception, several spin-offs have manifested to accompany other significant fights and sporting events in recent years.

Some of these series included Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr., Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao, etc.

No disrespect to the other aforementioned fighters and other participants in the show, but quite honestly the 24/7 series is boring without the co-creator Mayweather.

Surrounded by his team of people, the usual suspects like head trainer Roger Mayweather, financial adviser Leonard Ellerbe, assistant trainer Rafael Garcia, business partner and friend 50 Cent.

Also making appearance with the Mayweather team is his fiancée Shantel Jackson.

Granted a vast majority of the content with Mayweather include constant conversations of fame, jealousy, wealth, cars, and other luxurious delicacies enjoyed by the money maker himself.

But in the middle of the self grandeurising, lies a mix of other elements as well.

Compelling, heated arguments and bickering amongst family members, the berating of opponents, a daily dose of ignorance here and there, all boils into interesting must see television.

Even as an avid viewer of this program, there is still the same shock value I initially witnessed when first watching this series.

The heated exchange between Mayweather Jr. and his father Mayweather Sr. was certainly a spectacle to behold and certainly difficult for me to even digest.

Exercising deeply rooted family issues on television is definitely not the easiest to witness but it certainly is ratings gold.

It’s like that analogy with car wrecks. With a car accident, you know it’s bad, but you can’t help but watch.

And of course there is also Victor Ortiz. This is the outlet to familiarize the public with his story.

The first episode introduced Ortiz, his younger brother Temo, and his trainer Danny Garcia. We are able to get a peek at what makes Ortiz the man and fighter he is today, and even his doubters can have an appreciation of how he has triumphed over many obstacles in his life.

Ortiz has a heart warming story, with he and his brother being abandoned by their parents, fighting to survive and basically finding their road to survival through the sport of boxing.

The first episode definitely did a job of defining themes for the series.

The constant theme of series will have Mayweather staring as the villain most people love to hate.

Arrogant, too flashy, an egomaniac, etc.

The other theme is the overall feel good story of the under dog Ortiz. He will be portrayed as an humble, hungry, nice, young champion, and there will probably be many people who will root for him because it.

I’m certain Mayweather doesn’t really care. At the end of the day, he is doing his job promoting the fight hate him or love him.

He is an entertainer and drama sells tickets.

It’s Floyd being Floyd, he is living up to his persona; “Pretty Boy Floyd” aka “Money Mayweather“.

This looks to be an like interesting series to say the least.