Victor Ortiz will not protest his controversial knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather in the WBC welterweight championship, Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer said Tuesday.
The Mexican-American does, however, want a rematch, boxingscene.com reported.
Mayweather's knockout blow in the fourth round appeared to come during a break in the fight while Ortiz had his hands at his side and was looking the other way.
The nature of the victory caused widespread boos to break out around Las Vegas' MGM Grand and Ortiz's manager Rolando Arellano had said post-fight that he would decide whether to appeal after reviewing the tape.
But late Monday, Arellano informed the commission there would be no appeal after he deemed the hit to be legal.
"[Arellano] indicated that they weren't going to appeal, and that while they weren't happy with how the fight ended, the punches were legal. He said it was a learning experience for Victor," Kizer said, according to The Grand Rapids Press.
Arellano said he was "very motivated" to file an appeal, boxingscene.com reported, but after reviewing the tape he decided not to.
"There was two seconds left on the clock when [the referee] said to box," he said.
But Arellano was still angry about Mayweather's decision to throw the knockout blows, saying it was not in the spirit of boxing.
"While it was legal that doesn't change the fact that it was a (explative) sucker punch," Arellano said.
The referee had stopped the fight in mid-round, just seconds before the knockout, to deduct a point from Ortiz for headbutting Mayweather in the corner.
"Victor apologized for the headbutt and in good sportsmanship he apologized again," Arellano added. "He wanted to let Floyd know he was sorry and that is when he was hit with the sucker punch. The punch was legal so there is nothing we can do about changing this fight but we do want a rematch."
