By Jim Dower: Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) says there will be an announcement soon to present his March 3 title defense against Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz (28-0, 24 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
WBC heavyweight champion Wilder is giving Ortiz a second chance for a fight after he tested positive last September for 2 banned drugs. Wilder and Ortiz were going to fight on November 4. Wilder could have ignored Ortiz until he was made his WBC mandatory challenger, and that might have taken at least 2 years before he reached that status. Wilder, 32, wanted to give Ortiz a second chance.
The reason for that is because Wilder says there was so much buzz from the boxing public for his fight with Ortiz last November. Wilder wanted to take advantage of that excitement by rescheduling a fight against him. Wilder says the boxing fans see the 38-year-old Ortiz as the “boogeyman” of the heavyweight division. Wilder is intrigued by the time of defeating the “boogeyman” Ortiz in front of the world on Showtime on March 3.
“It isn’t finalized yet but it’s close,” said Wilder to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports News about his fight against Luis Ortiz. “We are definitely fighting. We should have an announcement soon. He definitely got away with murder. I chose to continue to fight Luis Ortiz because I saw the buzz from the first time. People are very excited. They know who he is. Everyone was looking at Luis Ortiz as the boogeyman of the division. That’s what people were giving Ortiz the title, ‘The boogeyman of the division.’ I felt like he was one of the best in the division,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz WAS seen as the boogeyman of the heavyweight division, but he’s not being viewed in that way now. Ortiz has shown slippage in his game in his last several fights against Daniel Martz, David Allen and Malik Scott. He’s not looked all that good like he had 3 years ago when he was beating fighters like Bryant Jennings, Matias Ariel Vidondo and Byron Polley. Ortiz looks he’s really aged badly in the last 3 years. 3 years ago, Ortiz looked like a superstar, but that fighter has disappeared for some reason. Ortiz looks slower, weaker, softer and older. Whatever Fountain of Youth Ortiz was drinking rom in 2015, he needs to find it again, because right now he’s up against it in facing the 6’7” Wilder on March 3. Wilder is looking better right now than what Ortiz was looking like in 2015.
Wilder needs to beat Ortiz to stay in the path of a unification fight against IBF, WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) in 2018. A loss for Wilder against Ortiz will sidetrack his dreams and put him out of reach for the fight with Joshua. Instead of Wilder getting the fight with Joshua, it’ll be Ortiz that’ll get it.
”I want nothing but the best. I want to clean out the entire division. I believe he’s one of the best, so I want to put him to the test,” said Wilder. ”I’m fighting the boogeyman of the division, and Joshua is fighting another champion. If he comes out successful, because I know I will, it’s going to be a hell of a fight, just the promotional part of it. That’s one of the reasons why I let Luis Ortiz come along,” said Wilder.
Ortiz, 6’4”, 240 lbs., would have been a very dangerous opponent for Wilder back in 2015, but he’s not looking like the same fighter. It would be a real shock for Ortiz to be able to pull off an upset against Wilder right now. There are heavyweights in the division that would trouble Wilder, but Ortiz is too slow now for him to be viewed as a threat. The threat level from Ortiz is too low, because he doesn’t cut off the ring, and he’s very easy to hit. Ortiz doesn’t have huge power in close. He can land an uppercut, but only if his opponent stays on the inside for long enough for him to tee off.
”Malik [Scott] was mobile,” said Wilder in discussing the problems Ortiz had in his fight with Malik Scott in November 2016. ”Ortiz don’t want anybody to be mobile. He wants somebody to be right there in front of him. He’s King Kong. He wants you right there. He don’t like a mover. He don’t like nobody that’s got angles, that’s mobile, and that’s athletic. He’s never seen anybody like me. That’s one of his problems. Who are they going to bring into camp that’s like me? He’s going to have to worry about so many different things, not just the movement, but the speed. He can get the height and range, but he can’t get the athleticism,” said Wilder.
Malik Scott just went in the survival mode against Ortiz after the first few rounds. He wasn’t trying to win that fight at all. That’s the reason why Ortiz was able to beat him.
Ortiz knocked out Daniel Martz in the 2nd round in a fight televised by Premier Boxing Champions on December 8 of last month. That was the first action Ortiz had seen inside the ring 1 year. Wilder looked a lot better in his last fight in scoring a 1st round knockout over Bermane Stiverne on November 4 on Showtime.