By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten interim World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King” Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs) have reportedly parted ways. According to Dan Rafael, the 37-year-old Ortiz has bought out his contract with Golden Boy and the two will now go their separate ways. It’s unknown who the Cuban Ortiz will sign with for his next promoters. But with his kind of talent, he’s likely going to have a lot of takers. The 6’4”, 240lb Ortiz would be a great addition to Al Haymon’s team of fighters. If Lou Dibella signed him, he would give Haymon an excellent heavyweight for his stable.
Here’s what Golden Boy Promotions said about Ortiz in a statement sent out to the boxing media on Tuesday:
“Today, Golden Boy Promotions and Luis Ortiz amicably parted ways,” said Stefan Friedman, spokesperson for Golden Boy Promotions. “We are proud of the work that Golden Boy and Luis accomplished together culminating in his WBA Heavyweight Interim Championship victory and subsequent title defenses. We wish Luis and his team all the best in the future.”
“Heavy Luis Ortiz completed buyout of his contract from Golden Boy Boxing and is free agent. ‘We wish Luis & his team all the best’ -GB said,” said Rafael on his Twitter. “At least Golden Boy Boxing got a seven-figure buyout fee from Ortiz team. Lack of loyalty from a fighter they did great job with.”
If Ortiz wasn’t happy with his situation at Golden Boy, then you can’t really blame him for wanting to move on. After all, it’s not as if he’s a young fighter and has many years left in his boxing career. Ortiz is pushing 40-years-old, and it’s not good for him if he’s not happy.
The good news for Ortiz is he’s still fighting at a very high level right now, and depending on which promoter he goes to, he can still make big things happen with his career. You would have to favor Ortiz against WBC champion Deontay Wilder and IBO/WBA/WBO belt holder Tyson Fury. IBF champion Anthony Joshua would be a tougher fight for Ortiz though, because he would have to use more tools in his toolkit than the ones he’s displayed thus far if he wanted to beat the younger 26-year-old Joshua.
Ortiz recently defeated Tony Thompson and Bryant Jennings by knockout victories. He looked good in both fights and showed off a lot different boxing skills in his game. There aren’t too many fighters in the heavyweight division that have the kinds of skills that Ortiz possesses. I think Ortiz is the most skilled fighter in the division.
The only thing he has going against him is his age. I think Ortiz looks 40-ish, and while he’s still fighting at a high level, he’s clearly not the fighter he was years ago when he was fighting in the amateur ranks in Cuba. Ortiz does not have much time left to take advantage of what’s left of his youth. If he wants to make big things happen in the heavyweight division, he’s got to be able to do it right now because if he’s forced to wait three to five years for the bigger fights to fall into his lap, he might be too old at that point to take advantage of them.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn hasn’t shown any interest in wanting to put him in with Ortiz. It’s the same thing with Fury snd Wilder. None of those heavyweights are mentioning Ortiz’s name. It’s not all that surprising because he’s looking so good right now. A good as Ortiz is, none of the heavyweights are going to give him an open invitation for a fight beause there’s too much risk involved with fighting him.
Golden Boy wanted to have Ortiz fight Alexander Ustinov on the undercard of the September 17 card headlined by Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Ortiz vs. Ustinov fight would have been the co-feature bout on that card. But with Ortiz being pulled from the card, it leaves a huge hole that was filled recently with the middleweight match-up between fringe contender Gabriel Rosado facing former world title challenger Willie Monroe Jr. That’s a really poor fight for a co-feature bout. You have to feel sorry for Golden Boy, because it would have been great if they had a worthwhile match-up as the chief support for the Canelo-Smith fight, because that’s not a great fight.