By Dave Lar: Light welterweight contender Victor Ortiz (23-1-1, 18 KOs) had an easy time taking out Jeffrey Resto (22-3, 13 KOs) in the 2nd round of scheduled 12-round bout on Saturday to defend his WBO NABO light welterweight title on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ortiz, 21, dropped Resto three times in the fight, with the final time coming by way off a huge left hook that finished Resto while he was trapped on the ropes in the 2nd round. Referee Russell Mora stopped the fight at 1:19. Ortiz, who’s ranked #5 in the World Boxing Association, #8 in the WBO and #10 in the IBF, was far too strong for the tall, slender Resto, and put him down with a hard right-left combination moments into the first round.
Shortly after that, Ortiz against knocked Resto down, this time with a straight left to the head. Resto, who normally looks good against less skilled fighters than Ortiz, seemed way over his head in this fight and didn’t have the power, work rate or the physical build to keep the stronger Ortiz off of him.
Most of the first round was spent with Resto taking punishment on the ropes, getting hit with faster, harder shots and getting essentially manhandled by the younger 21-year-old Ortiz. Nothing much changed in the second round, as Ortiz stayed on top of Resto, landing short punches to the head and body and using his speed to cause the slower Resto all kinds of problems.
After pursuing Resto around the ring, Ortiz finally trapped him up against the ropes where he landed a big left uppercut, followed by two rights to the head and then a stunning left hook that dropped Resto for the third and final time in the fight. At that point, referee Russell Mora moved in and halted the slaughter at 1:19 of the round.
“I saw the videos. He’s [referring to Resto]. We kind of prepared for everything he had,” said Ortiz. Speaking about his sparring with De La Hoya in the weeks before the bout, who Ortiz gave a black eye, Ortiz said “He’s a great fighter. If could hang in there with the best, then the sky’s the limit.”
As good as this win was for Ortiz, it’s hard to get much from this fight because Resto folded so soon in the fight and presented very little in the way of competition. In past fights against Dairo Esalas and Emmanuel Clottey, Ortiz has looked poor and nothing like a future champion.
At 21, he has time to improve but it’s unclear whether he’ll ever be good enough to win a title in the junior welterweight division. At this point, I see Ricky Hatton, Junior Witter, Timothy Bradley, Kendall Holt and Ricardo Torres all easily beating him. Ortiz is too green to fight them and has a lot of developing to do before getting in the ring with any of them.