Ortiz waives the white flag, quits against Lopez

By Boxing News - 06/24/2012 - Comments

Image: Ortiz waives the white flag, quits against LopezBy Allan Fox: Complaining of a broken jaw, Victor Ortiz took the easy way out tonight, quitting on his stool after the 9th round against Josesito Lopez on Saturday night. The loss, likely a crushing one for Ortiz’s career, finishes any hopes for a Ortiz vs. Saul Alvarez bout in September.

Ortiz was ahead on the scorecards when he quit tonight, and only had to stay on his feet and win one more round of the three remaining to win the fight by a decision. However, Ortiz instead told the referee that he didn’t want to continue fighting after the 9th round had ended.

It’s pretty sad because many fighters have fought with broken jaws before, and Ortiz only had to take the pain for three more rounds to ensure himself a win and a big money fight against Alvarez. It must have been too much for Ortiz to take, because the average person on the street would likely endure any amount of pain if it led to a big million dollar payday in a fight against Saul Alvarez.

Ortiz previously quit against Marcos Maidana in 2009 when the going got rough for him in the 6th round. Ortiz had knocked Maidana down three times in the fight in the early going, but when Maidana started having his way with Ortiz in the 6th, it was then that Ortiz decided he’d had enough.

What this means for Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions isn’t known at this time. They had previously wanted to put together the Alvarez vs. Ortiz fight on September 15th as a PPV event, on the same night as a Top Rank Promotions PPV card headlined by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio Martinez. With Ortiz now beaten, it’s going to be awfully tough to justify Alvarez’s fight as a PPV worthy bout because there’s simply popular enough to put in with Alvarez that will interest boxing fans unless Golden Boy wants to try and sign on Miguel Cotto.

That won’t happen because Golden Boy wants to keep Alvarez winning and Cotto is too advanced of a fighter. Erislandy Lara is an option, but he might be too good as well. Besides, he’s not a well known fighter, so a fight between him and Alvarez won’t attract a lot of buys on PPV.



Comments are closed.