Manny Pacquiao made sure he’d catch the fight on TV. He didn’t like what he saw.

“Very poor sportsmanship,” said the Filipino pound-for-pound champion in the aftermath of Floyd Mayweather’s controversial knockout of Victor Ortiz in Las Vegas yesterday.

Pacquiao said he didn’t’ see anything illegal with what Mayweather did because he thought that the referee, Joe Cortez, had already ordered the fight to continue.

“It was not illegal,” he said.

Still, Pacquiao, a clean fighter, felt it was unsportsmanlike.

Freddie Roach talked to The STAR right after the fight, and felt it was a “cheap shot” from Mayweather.

“Yeah,” he said over the phone.

“The referee was still talking to someone at ringside. And I didn’t see him said ‘box’ like they always do. I think he lost control,” said Roach.

Pacquiao’s adviser, Mike Koncz, felt the same way, too.

“Poor sportsmanship,” said Koncz who watched the fight with Pacquiao.

“I feel the same way. Floyd just took advantage of the inexperience of the young fighter like Ortiz. I agree that it was a cheap shot,” he said.

Koncz was asked if Pacquiao ever talked about the possibility of fighting Mayweather as they watched the fight on TV.

“No. We’re not concerned with Floyd right now. We’re working on the (Juan Manuel) Marquez fight (on Nov. 12),” said Koncz.

“Ortiz was too trusting. It was his fault. But Floyd showed he is not a sportsman in its true sense,” said Pacquiao’s legal adviser, Franklin Gacal.

“It was very clear Cortez was still talking to somebody when Floyd threw the cheap shot at Ortiz. That punch hurt not Ortiz but the sport of boxing,” Gacal added.

Mayweather stretched his unbeaten record to 42 and became the new WBC welterweight champion when he caught Ortiz with two solid punches with just a second left in the fourth round.

It was a clear knockout except that Ortiz wasn’t protecting himself because Cortez appeared to be talking to someone at ringside, maybe the commissioner or one of the judges.

The referee’s eyes were not on the boxers.

That’s why when Mayweather landed the first blow, Cortez looked stunned, his eyes and mouth wide open. Yet, when Ortiz fell to the canvas he was so quick to give him the count.

Cortez defended his actions.

“Time was in. The fighter needed to keep his guard up. Mayweather did nothing illegal,” Cortez firmly said after the fight.

Prior to the knockout, Ortiz pinned Mayweather on the ropes, and banged away at the undefeated American. Then he must have been carried away, and lunged at Mayweather – with his head.

Ortiz was deducted a point for the intentional headbutt that opened a cut on Mayweather’s chin.

“I got hit with a dirty shot,” Mayweather told HBO analyst Larry Merchant inside the ring.

Mayweather insisted that Ortiz should have protected himself at all times.

“Meaning even though it appeared that he wasn’t protecting himself.... That you unfairly took advantage of it,” Merchant continued.

But Mayweather evaded the question, and instead thanked everybody who bought the fight on pay-per-view and those who came out to Las Vegas to watch.

“We’re not (here) to talk about what he did dirty or what I did dirty. I was victorious. If he wants a rematch he can get a rematch,” Mayweather said.

Merchant got into Mayweather’s nerves, and soon after the flamboyant and cocky American was right in the face of the 80-year-old boxing expert.

“You don’t ever give me a fair shake. So I’m gonna let you talk to Victor Ortiz, alright? I’m through. Put somebody else up here to give me an interview. HBO needs to fire you because you don’t know (expletive) about boxing. You ain’t (expletive),” Mayweather ranted.

“If I was 50 years younger, I would kick your ass,” was Merchant’s reply.

Then he turned his back on Mayweather.

source: Abac Cordero -Philstar