By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten heavyweight contender Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (27-0, 23 KOs) thinks WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) is afraid to fight him, because he hasn’t given him a title shot as of now.
Wilder doesn’t want to bother fighting the Cuban Ortiz because he previously tested positive for a banned substance in the past. Wilder has had bad luck lately with two of his recent opponents testing positive for banned drugs, which has wiped out two fights.
The hard hitting Deontay is now facing the capable Gerald Washington (18-0-1, 13 KOs) on February 25 on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
Ortiz is the mandatory challenger for the winner of the April 29 fight between IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko.
Ortiz should be happy that he’s getting a crack at the winner of that fight, because it’s a good payday to fight the winner of that match. Ortiz hasn’t had to do anything to get the winner of that fight other than beating David Allen, Malik Scott and Tony Thompson. Those were three easy fights in a row for Ortiz.
“He’s scared!” said Ortiz of Wilder to Fightnews.com. “The more he can use my failed test against me he will. He and (promoter Lou) DiBella are saying he won’t fight me because of that. That was years ago, and since that unfortunate incident, for which I was punished, I have tested a dozen times clean. Now he’s trying to say I haven’t signed up for VADA Clean Boxing… guess what Wilder? I signed up last September when I was notified that all WBC contenders need to be part of their new Clean Boxing Program. I filled out the paperwork and my trainer submitted it to the WBC. He can stop using that excuse to avoid me.”
Even if the 6’7” Deontay wanted to fight Ortiz, he couldn’t, because he’s already got a fight scheduled against Gerald Washington on February 25. I’m sure Wilder wouldn’t mind fighting Ortiz if he was in need of an opponent, but he’s not looking for an opponent right now. Wilder has the Washington fight next, and after that, he could be facing the winner of the Joseph Parker vs. Hughie Fury fight for a nice unification match.
Luis Ortiz would obviously be a good fight for Wilder if he wasn’t fighting a unification fight, but the reality is he’s going to be looking to take the bigger fight next. Ortiz is just going to need to get in line and wait his time for a shot against Wilder. Ortiz just needs to stay patient. All good things come to those that wait.
Ortiz, 37, looked really old in his last two fights against David Allen and Malik Scott. He labored to wins over both guys, and looked and fought like a man much older than his 37 years.
At this point, Ortiz is going to need to take advantage of what’s left of his youth, because I think he’s going to age out of the division soon if he doesn’t get a big fight soon.
I think Deontay beats Ortiz easily if the two of them face each other, because the Cuban fighter is too short and too easy to hit.