By Jim Dower: Former WBC 147 pound champion Victor Ortiz (29-5-2, 22 KOs) hopes to turn his sagging boxing career around this Saturday night in a 10 round bout against light welterweight Manuel Perez (22-10-1, 4 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ortiz is coming into this fight having lost his last three fights by knockout, and things obviously are looking bleak for him career-wise. However, Ortiz still believes he has the talent to become a world champion again in the near future, and he also thinks he’s going to become one of the pound-for-pound fighters.
Whether that’s possible or not will depend on Ortiz’s drive, ring intelligence and a lot of luck. Right now things aren’t looking too good for Ortiz. He was knocked out by Luis Collazo in the 2nd round last February in a surprise loss.
Ortiz hasn’t fought since then after burning up most of 2014 by staying inactive.
“I am going to be the pound-for-pound world champion; there is no doubt in my mind,” said Ortiz via RingTV.com. “I will be one of the greats like Floyd or a [Julio Cesar] Chavez Sr. one day; I just don’t know when.”
Ortiz will be turning 28 next month, so it’s definitely time that he starts making his move to become one of the greats, and get on the welterweight pound-for-pound list.
If Ortiz can’t make progress with his career in the next two years then it’s going to be difficult to imagine him turning things around in his 30s.
Ortiz hasn’t won a fight in three years since beating Andre Berto by a 12 round unanimous decision in April of 2011. It’s difficult to imagine that three years have gone by since Ortiz last won a fight. That’s a lifetime for a lot of fighters.
Ortiz will be facing the right guy for him to look good against in facing Perez, because this is a fight where pretty much nothing can go wrong for Ortiz. He’ll have the speed, power and size advantage over Perez. If that’s not enough then Ortiz is going to need to think seriously about hanging up his gloves.
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