Victor Ortiz: I’ll fight Brandon Rios if he proves himself; he’s not in my class

By Boxing News - 08/31/2011 - Comments

Image: Victor Ortiz: I'll fight Brandon Rios if he proves himself; he's not in my classBy Dan Ambrose: WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KO’s) doesn’t see WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (28-0-1, 21 KO’s) worthy of mention as a possible future opponent for him right now because Ortiz doesn’t see him as an elite fighter or someone near his weight class.

Rios, 25, recently expressed interest in fighting Ortiz and thinks he would beat him if given the chance. Rios, however, is still fighting at lightweight and would be at a huge weight disadvantage if he had to jump up two whole weight classes to take the fight.

Speaking in an interview by Ellie Seckbach at esnewsreporting.com, Ortiz said “If he proves himself. He’s a lightweight, one. Two, he doesn’t belong in my class of fighters. I’m an elite fighter. He’s a made champion. He’s fought all the right fights to get where he’s at. He’s undefeated for a reason because they took good care of him to groom him. Me, I’ve fought the best of the best.”

It’s probably sort of ridiculous to talk about a Ortiz-Rios fight with Ortiz facing a much better talent in Floyd Mayweather Jr. next month on September 17th, and Rios still fighting at lightweight. Rios hasn’t even proven that he’s the best fighter at lightweight, let alone someone that should be talking about moving up two divisions to face arguably the third best welterweight in the division behind Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

That’s too big of a jump for even a fighter like Rios to make. He didn’t look good taking hits from the thin and wiry 5’7″ Miguel Acosta last February. Although Rios was able to take Acosta out in the 10th round, a much bigger fighter like Ortiz, who has a powerful frame, would be like a wrecking ball for Rios. I think it very well could end up being a big mismatch with Rios getting pummeled. It looks like Rios is using Ortiz’s name to try and get some easy fame and attention from boxing fans. He needs to take on and beat someone instead of calling out guys that are much bigger and popular than him.



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