By Brian Kenneth Blackwell: The bout between Victor Ortiz 24-1-1 (19KO) and Marcos Rene Maidana 25-1(24KO) will be televised by HBO Boxing After Dark, tonight at 10:00 PM Eastern Time. The fight will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Ortiz will be attempting to improve his status in the world rankings in this bout, and is coming off a 2nd round knock out of Mike Arnaoutis of Greece, a bout which aired live on HBO World Championship Boxing on March 7, 2009. Ortiz handed Arnaoutis his first loss coming by way of knockout in his career, retaining his WBO NABO title, and winning the U.S.B.A. title.
As a young child, Victor’s parents abandoned he and his siblings (his mother to pursue another relationship, and his father due to alcoholism). During this time, Victor had already begun training at a local boxing club, eventually winning the Kansas Golden Gloves Championship. For a short time, he risked his boxing career with a short stint involving drug dealing. Soon after, he moved to Colorado with his older sister, and became a pupil of former heavyweight contender of the 70s Ron Lyle, who guided him through the Junior Olympics with a perfect record.
After the Junior Olympics, Ortiz met former super featherweight champion Roberto Garcia, who took over his training, and became Victor’s legal guardian. At age seventeen he turned pro, and now resides in Oxnard, California, where he looks after, and is the legal guardian of his younger brother.
Ortiz began his career with seven straight victories. However, on June 3rd, 2005, he was disqualified in a bout with Corey Alarcon (then 11-9). Victor had knocked Corey to the canvas on one occasion, but the second knock down came during a break that was initiated by the referee. After being knocked down, Alarcon refused to continue the bout, and was awarded the victory via disqualification.
After blowing through nine straight opponents, Ortiz added another blemish to his career in a match with another boxing prospect, Marvin Cordova Jr., a bout which was shown on Showtime Boxing. At the end of a tightly contested first round, a headbutt opened up a terrible gash on the upper right corner of Ortiz’ forehead, prompting the ring doctor to call for a stoppage, as Victor’s corner men were unable to stop the bleeding. Victor’s chest was smeared with his own blood as he circled the ring in frustration. The bout was ruled a technical draw.
From this point. Ortiz gained eight straight victories, all of which coming by way of knockout, and each opponent being more formidable than the previous, peaking with his last performance against a tough Mike Arnaoutis of Greece.
Maidana is a prospect hailing from Argentina, but based out of Germany. He is considered a knock out artist with twenty-four of his first twenty-five bouts ending in knock out fashion. After examining his record, it appears as if a large portion of his opponents was of C or D class opposition; many of which had at least ten defeats already on their record at the time of their bout (this is of no offense to Glencoffe Johnson who we all know is an A class fighter in the light heavyweight division).
In his last bout, Maidana took a huge step up in opposition, fighting Andriy Kotelnik for the WBA light welterweight title. In a tight battle, Maidana suffered the first defeat of his career, losing by split decision.
Victor Ortiz is an intelligent fighter both inside and outside the ring. He fights out of the southpaw stance, even though he is right-handed. He admits that most of his power comes from his right hand, and he uses it to create a solid, powerful jab, and a crisp, “to the point” right hook (similar to the likes of Oscar de la Hoya). Ortiz has the ability to fight several ways, and has shown the ability in past fights to adapt to how his opponent comes at him, being able to both circle the ring and box, as well as trade with his opponent. He has also shown the ability to come back after being hurt. Although he is an exciting fighter to watch, he is still relatively untested, as he will admit, and probably could use a few more fights before jumping into a match for one of the more recognized titles.
Marcos Rene Maidana fights out of a conventional stance. He likes to circle the ring, studying his opponent while he fires away to the head and body with his jab, while swinging wildly with his right hook. He does good work to the body, and stays busy throughout the round. He also possesses a good left hook.
For Ortiz to come out on top, it may not be a wise decision to go inside and trade with a puncher like Maidana, even though Maidana’s weak record may unprove his recognition as a power puncher. Ortiz has shown in the past that he can be hurt, and he does have the ability to outbox Maidana. When Maidana gets inside, he does have a tendency to swing wildly, leaving himself wide open for straight shots on the inside for seconds at a time. I can see Victor taking advantage of this opportunity.
Maidana needs to stay busy if he wants this fight to remain competitive. I can see this match going Maidana’s way, as long as he continues to fire his jab, and pressure Ortiz with relentless body shots throughout the fight, much like Luis Collazo did against Andre Berto. Ortiz would have had to have shown Maidana that he was incapable of hurting him though (and we all know of Ortiz’ punching power as it was displayed against Arnaoutis).
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