By Dan Ambrose: According to Boxen.de Former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO’s) is a possible opponent for WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO’s) for his fifth title defense on September 15th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ortiz, 25, had a rematch with Andre Berto fall apart when Berto allegedly tested positive for steroids. Ortiz was taking a big gamble in the first place in trying to fight Berto given that Berto had already torn up his left biceps in training. It was a gamble and it didn’t pay off for Ortiz. It’s pretty clear now that Ortiz should have picked another opponent after Berto injured his bicep. Ortiz has now been out of action for nine full months since his 4th round TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September. Ortiz is still young, but he needs to be a little wiser when picking out his opponents if he doesn’t want to throw away large portions of his career. If Ortiz lands the Alvarez fight, he’ll have been out of the ring for an entire year because of the wasted time waiting on Berto.
Alvarez, 21, was supposed to be defending his title against Paul Williams, but he was badly injured in a horrible motorcycle accident recently. Alvarez’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions then attempted to substitute #4 WBC James Kirkland, but his surgically repaired right shoulder won’t be ready by September.
Alvarez still hasn’t faced a quality opponent since capturing the vacant WBC title against welterweight Matthew Hatton last year. A lot of boxing fans think that Golden Boy is still spoon feeding Alvarez to keep him from getting beaten. Boxing fans want to see Alvarez face top contender Erislandy Lara, but it doesn’t look as if Golden Boy will be making that move anytime soon.
Ortiz could make it tough against Alvarez if he doesn’t have another mental breakdown like he did against Mayweather and in his loss to Marcos Maidana. Ortiz has great skills and is just as big as Alvarez, but a lot faster and a bigger puncher. Ortiz doesn’t have the punch arsenal that Alvarez has nor is he as skilled defensively.
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