By Jim Dower: WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman says the World Boxing Council is analyzing heavyweight Luis “King Kong” Ortiz’s positive drug test findings, and they’ll be making a resolution on his case in the next 2 days.
Ortiz, 38, was supposed to be challenging WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) on November 4 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Wilder still wants Ortiz to be able to take the fight.
Wilder is willing to let the match continue regardless of the positive test for the Cuban. Sulaiman understands that Wilder feels strongly about wanting to take the fight with Ortiz, but he says the WBC must think of the safety of the fighters, and they can’t compromise on that. As such, it looks like the WBC will rule against Ortiz being able to take the fight with Wilder on November 4.
That means that Bermane Stiverne will almost surely move up from the co-feature spot on the November 4 card to face Wilder in the main event. Stiverne was supposed to be fighting former heavyweight title challenger Dominic Breazeale. Stiverne had been paid a step aside payment for him to let Wilder face Ortiz instead of him on November 4. However, now that Ortiz appears to be out of the picture, it clears the way for Stiverne to get the fight with the Bronze Bomber.
“Unfortunately, Ortiz has an adverse finding for a diuretic, and we’re now in the process of analyzing the specific situation, because each case is different,” said Sulaiman to Fighthub in discussing Luis Ortiz’s recent positive drug test. “Each substance is different and we have to address it that way. That’s a fighter. A fighter has a heart and a desire,” said Sulaiman about Wilder wanting Ortiz to be allowed to STILL fight him on November 4. “I feel so bad for Wilder. This is a third doping case for him in 2 years, which is keeping him out of the ring, keeping him from making money. But there’s no compromising safety, if it is not safe for him, if it is not safe for Ortiz, we will never be part of something like that. We’re studying, we’re going in deep about the specific case, and we will make a resolution in the next 2 days,” said Sulaiman.
Ortiz is likely going to be kept out of the Wilder fight, and probably suspended for a period. At 38-years-old, if that is Ortiz’s true age, it’s not good news if he must stay out of the ring for any length of time. He’s not young enough to lose 1 year of his career without it hurting him. If Ortiz loses his ranking with the WBC and some of the other sanctioning bodies, it could take him a while to get back to the No.1 ranking. You would have to think that Ortiz will need to get a No1 ranking for him to get a title shot. It’s unlikely that Ortiz will be given a title shot in a voluntary defense.
