Danny Garcia: Floyd Mayweather is a sneaky dirty fighter, Victor Ortiz camp concerned by ref Joe Cortez

Danny Garcia made no bones about the concern held having Joe Cortez refereeing the contest between his charge, WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz, and Floyd Mayweather here on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

"Yes, Floyd is a sneaky, dirty fighter," Garcia concurred to Telegraph Sport. But then, many great boxing champions have been, right under referees noses. It just comes with the territory. Call it sleight of hand, or whatever… Muhammad Ali used to hold his opponents by the back of the head with one glove and let fly with the other.

Mayweather knows how to mix it. Sure, he is brilliantly defensively, but has the canny ability to look after himself in the ring. Par excellence. Garcia, as expected, believes his man has a method. He also believes that too many of Mayweather's opponents have fought him "in the same way".

"They show him respect. We are not going to fight him dirty, but we will put pressure on him, and Victor can box, too. The only thing I told Victor from studying Floyd is I see a lot of his elbow. That's illegal. The same as Victor kicking him. The elbow can cut, or break his nose. Floyd is a sneaky, dirty fighter."

"Using the shoulder is one thing; but when you use the elbow that's when you don't want to fight. That's what Floyd does. I like Joe Cortez, but I want a clean fight. We are here to beat Mayweather."

"Mayweather also turns his back, and if he does that, which you can't do in boxing, Victor will hit him in his back. We think Mayweather will run."

Garcia also believes that Ortiz's south paw stance may help him. Mayweather had problems early in his contest with ZAb Judah, also a southpaw. "I think Zab Judah was a better fighter than Floyd Mayweather back then." Yet the key to that is that Mayweather still found a way to win.

Garcia also studied Mayweather's contest with Ricky Hatton, who was knocked out by the American in the same ring here in 2008. "Hatton was putting pressure on him, but he had no defence, jumping in with his hands down, leaving his jaw up. Floyd waited for that and he got him good. Victor would have beaten Hatton, too. Hatton was too small, too open for Floyd Mayweather."

This fight has not ignited mainstream interest in the US, and is being seen as yet another semi-final for Mayweather, as many of the sports insiders – and fans – look to a contest against Manny Pacquiao as a fight that must be made. Indeed, it must. They are the world's two most accomplished fighters, Mayweather and Pacquiao. They are also in the same weight division. Imagine if Nadal and Federer never met on a tennis court. It just wouldn't make sense. But if Garcia pulls off a victory here in Sin City with his underdog fighter, Ortiz will become a major star overnight.