"I want to thank Manny Pacquiao for his words" - Victor Ortiz

Last night Victor Ortiz pulled off a very impressive upset as he edged WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto over twelve fast-paced rounds by scores of 115-110, 114-111, and 114-112 in what has to be considered as one of the best fights of 2011. In victory we saw Ortiz drop Berto in the first, suffer a knockdown of his own a round later, and eventually trade knockdowns with the Haitian-American champion in round six.

All in all it was a memorable affair and Ortiz's aggression and pressure seemed to be what carried the day for him. For as much heart as Berto showed, Ortiz was the one initiating the contact more often than not and he simply wouldn't be denied on this night.

After the fight Ortiz gave all credit to Berto and mentioned that his days at 140 pounds are an afterthought, as he is now looking for his all of his endeavors to be at 147 pounds. In an interesting note, Ortiz told HBO's Larry Merchant that he was even willing to throw his name into the Manny Pacquiao sweepstakes, but not before offering up some heartfelt appreciation for the Filipino champion first.

This content is protected

"I want to thank Manny Pacquiao for his words. We talked today and he said to stick to my plan, that I'm a very good fighter, and don't take anybody's negativity," Ortiz said of his Saturday conversation with Pacquiao.

Pacquiao, set to defend his WBO welterweight crown against Shane Mosley on May 7th inside of the MGM Grand, obviously sees some similarities between he and his southpaw companion Ortiz. While it very unlikely that we will ever see the two in the ring against one another given the recent Golden Boy-Top Rank feud, as Pacquaio has been with Bob Arum's outfit for several years and Ortiz is a staple of the Golden Boy family, you can appreciate just how much Manny's words impacted the newly crowned champion.

"He said I'm more powerful than he is. To listen to my coaches. Thank you Manny. Thank you Freddie."