Floyd Mayweather's name is forever etched in the rich tapestry of professional boxing.

The American rewrote the record books throughout his career, finishing with a pristine record of 50-0-0.

Mayweather fought the very best, with Canelo Alvarez, Ricky Hatton, Marcos Maidana, Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley and more failing to stop him.

Most of those fighters barely laid a glove on Mayweather, such was his agility and speed.

However, one thing you rarely associate with the legendary fighter was his ability to produce stunning knockouts to finish off his opponents.

Most of Mayweather's victories were carefully constructed 12-round plans, or came courtesy of a fighter simply punching himself out trying to hit the blur in front of him.

But on one occasion, Mayweather delivered a truly savage knockout in a WBC Welterweight world title fight.

Victor Ortiz was on the receiving end in front of a packed house at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but the way the shot came about still causes controversy to this very day.

Mayweather grew impatient with Ortiz trying to headbutt him in the fourth round and the referee stepped in to deliver a verbal warning

Ortiz then tried to touch gloves in the middle of the ring, with Mayweather responding courtesy of a quick left and then a devastating right while his opponent's gloves were down by his side.

The referee administered the count, but Ortiz simply could not recover.

VIDEO

While the knockout was perfectly legal within the sport's laws, the question is; was it morally right? The general consensus is that is certainly wasn't.

After the fight, Mayweather hinted at the motives behind the crucial moment of the fight, saying: "You gotta protect yourself at all times. I got hit with a head-butt, I got hit with elbows.

"I didn't cry and complain. I done what I had to do as a fighter. I didn't say my mouth was split open and cut inside. So, keep it clean. We touched gloves. Once we touched gloves, it's fight time."

Minutes after he was counted out, Ortiz embraced Mayweather in the ring, with the latter adding: "You wanna be dirty and two minutes later it's, like, you wanna be friends? It's the hurt business. It's boxing."