By Aaron Klein: Light welterweight prospect Victor Ortiz (21-1-1, 16 KOs) overcame an early third round scare in which he was knocked down to come back and knockout journeyman fighter Dairo Esalas (30-13, 24 KOs) in the 5th round off a scheduled 10-round bout at the Home Deport Center, in Carson, California. Ortiz, 21, looking a lot like a poor man’s version of welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, knocked Esalas down three times in the bout, the last time in the fifth round with a searing right hand that flattened Esalas for the 10-count. Oddly enough, it wasn’t Ortiz who was the harder puncher of the two, for Esalas appeared to have the better punch, at least with his right hand.
Obviously, the high percentage of KOs on Esalas’ record was indicative of him having some major power but it was a bit of surprise that he would turn out to be the better puncher than Ortiz, considering how hyped the young 21 year-old prospect has become in the last year with many people seeing him as a can’t miss future champion in the light welterweight division. Whatever the case, Ortiz can be excused for getting dropped by a puncher like Esalas, especially because Ortiz seemed to anxiously trying to stop him as early as possible, perhaps to make a good impression due to this fight being on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Steve Forbes bout.
Ortiz, ranked #8 in both the WBA and WBO light welterweight divisions, attacked Esalas viciously in the 1st round, hitting him with straight left hands much of the time. Not bothering at all with his jab, Ortiz was focusing exclusively on power punches and was connecting well. Esalas looked fearful, and stayed on the move the entire round. Ortiz landed one particularly hard left hand that I was surprised Esalas, a fighter who has lost 12 of his last 15 fights going into the bout, took without going down. Despite his huge power, Esalas’ major weakness is his chin, so I figured it wouldn’t take long for a good puncher like Ortiz to expose it once again.
Ortiz stalked Esalas continuously in the second round, looking for openings and then unloading with big left hands. Esalas continued running for his life, moving from side to side in an effort to stay on the fight as long as he could. Ortiz would occasionally cut off the ring and tag him with combos, but he was unable to get as much on the punches due to the movement from Esalas. Near the end of the round, both fighters clashed head but neither were cut from it.
In the third round, Ortiz continued to attack hard, again forgetting altogether to throw his jab as he winged big shots. Seconds into the round, Ortiz dropped Esalas with a nice left hook to the head. I supposed Ortiz thought the fight would soon be over, for in his haste to finish the job, he left himself open while attacking and Esalas promptly flattened him with a crushing right hand. Ortiz jumped up immediately, looking embarrassed and trying to play it off that he wasn’t hurt. However, he was and he continued to take heavy shots from Esalas for the remainder of the round. At that point, Ortiz looked nothing like a future champion or even a contender the way he was being manhandled by a fighter with a losing record like Esalas.
After absorbing more punishment from Esalas in the first minute of round, four, Ortiz seemed to have recovered finally from the knockdown and began unloading once again with his own power shots. A few moments later, after connecting with several left hands, Ortiz dropped Esalas with a beautiful left hook to the head. It was a perfect punch, thrown with excellent form and power. Esalas sprang to his feet once again, indicating that he was okay from the knockdown. However, it was all Ortiz for the remainder of the round as he punished Esalas with hard left hooks and right hands to the head. For his part, Esalas once again got on his bike and moved constantly around the ring to avoid Ortiz. It only worked partially, for Ortiz was getting better at timing Esalas and cutting off the ring on him.
In the 5th round, Esalas complained about getting hit with rabbit punches to the back of the head. Ortiz can’t really be blamed for hitting him there, because Esalas’ constant movement was like a merry-go-round, making it necessary for Ortiz to hit a moving target before Esalas would get out range. Ortiz really began letting hit hands go after that, hitting Esalas with hard shots to the body and nice left hooks to the head. Not long after, Ortiz landed a monstrous left hand to the head that dropped Esalas for the third and final time in the fight. Esalas, his nose bleeding badly, laid flat on the canvas face first, and there wasn’t much need for a count. It was a picture perfect knockout and there was little doubt that Esalas would be able to get up as soon as the punch landed.
It was a good performance by Ortiz, at least in terms of his power shots. However, he needs to work a lot on his jab, or lack thereof. I can’t understand how a prospect ranked as high as he is fails to use his jab. He made the same mistake against Emmanuel Clottey, who made him look bad a lot during the fight. I honestly can’t see him winning any championships unless he learns how to fight properly. His defense is basically nonexistent. Indeed, his defense is his offense, which is quite good as I’ve already pointed out previously. Yet against a much better puncher than him, someone like WBO light welterweight champion Ricardo Torres, Ortiz wouldn’t be able to simply out-slug him because Torres hits much harder with both hands, not just his left. I see Ortiz getting stopped in short order unless he makes some changes to his fighting style.