Victor Ortiz has heard every question that could possibly be asked of a young fighter after suffering his first knockout loss.
What went wrong? Have you put it behind you? Will it happen again?
It's been almost a year since that night at Staples Center in Los Angeles, when the hot prospect ticketed for stardom came crashing down in spectacular fashion. Marcos Maidana turned his handsome, boyish face into a garish mess of bruises and cuts over six rounds, laying a savage beating as much on Ortiz's body as his psyche.
``It was a shocker, I have to be honest,'' said Ortiz's promoter, Richard Schaefer, who remembers sitting ringside. ``It was very surprising.''
Some critics accused Ortiz of quitting in the ring, one of boxing's cardinal sins. They claimed that the 23-year-old from Garden City, Kan., never wanted to fight, and that he was looking for a way out after tasting the power from his Argentine opponent.
Fellow boxers came rushing to his defense, unwilling to allow someone with such potential to have his career reduced to embers at such a young age. Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley offered their support, and Manny Pacquiao sent a note of encouragement.
``A lot of fighters said, 'Keep your head up, man,''' Ortiz said. ``Floyd Mayweather came up to me and spoke to me, he gave me his mind. He said, 'I don't know what you're doing kid, but you're a lot better than that.' Coming from Mayweather, man, that says a lot.''
Ortiz wound up spending six months out of the ring recovering, until finally starting the long road back. He followed an easy win over Antonio Diaz by defeating Hector Alatorre in February, and now takes on the most difficult test of his redemption tour when he faces former lightweight champion Nate Campbell on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Perhaps then, he can deliver the answer to the most important question that can be asked of any fighter: Does he have any heart?
``I've always just rolled it off. That night, I don't know what happened,'' Ortiz said. ``My dad came into my life for the first time since I was 10, my brother walked out two months before the fight. It was just not the night that I wanted for something that big.''
Schaefer believes that Ortiz has learned from the experience, and in hindsight thinks that having a starring role at Staples Center on HBO may have been too much for him at such an early stage in his career. He may not have been ready for the attention, the bright lights, the scrutiny that comes with being the main event.
``Everybody was writing about the next Golden Boy, the next Oscar, and you take all that and he goes into the fight and first round, knocks Maidana down twice, and everybody is like, 'Hey, he's unbelievable!''' Schaefer said. ``I think it was an accumulation of these factors.''
Even now, Ortiz doesn't make any excuses. He admits that his head wasn't in the right place and accepts full blame for his performance. But he also points out that boxing is a tough sport, a what-have-you-done-lately sport, that rewards success and casts a critical eye on failure.
``If I wanted an easy job, I may have gone up the branches at Burger King, where I used to work. That was easy,'' he said. ``Flipping burgers, making fries - that was an easy job.
``It happens. I learned never take a fight when I'm feeling that way. You learn.''
Campbell said earlier this week that he hopes to teach Ortiz another lesson when they step into the ring together. The 38-year-old defeated Juan Diaz to win the lightweight title in 2008, then lost the title when he failed to make weight against Ali Funeka last year.
He moved up to 140 pounds to fight Timothy Bradley in the fall, but the fight was called a no-contest after it was stopped in the third round because of a cut over Campbell's left eye.
``I don't have a whole lot to say. I'm not going to make any idle threats or make any statements about what's going to happen,'' Campbell said. ``I'm going to let my hands do the talking. I don't care who you put in front of me, never have.''
Unlike Ortiz, nobody predicted stardom for Campbell. He doesn't have apparel company Affliction in his corner, or network executives swooning. He took the other road to the highest echelon in boxing, the bumpy road, and he believes he's all the better for it.
``I grew up in the ghetto, I was a foster child, been by myself most of my life,'' he said, turning his attention to the fight Saturday night. ``What you do is what you do. With me? I'm going to do what I have to do.''
