By Allan Fox: After throwing away the last five years of his career by not being active enough, former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (31-5-2, 24 KOs) says he’s ready to win another world title.
In fact, the 29-year-old Ortiz believes he’s going to conquer the welterweight and junior middleweight divisions. But first things first; he needs to beat Andre Berto (30-4, 23 KOs) in a rematch at the end of this month on April 30 on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox and Fox Deportes at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
It’s hard to believe that Ortiz and Berto fought each other five years ago in April 2011 in a Fight of the Year, and were two of the top fighters in the 147lb division at the time. Now both fighters are seen as no longer relevant in those divisions. Ortiz may see himself as relevant, but the facts speak different.
Ortiz hasn’t done anything in the division since his win over Berto five years ago. Since that fight, Ortiz has lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Josesito Lopez and Luis Collazo. The only wins that Ortiz has registered since his fight with Berto in 2011 were wins over lightweight Manuel Perez and Gilberto Sanchez Leon.
Those wins have come in Ortiz’s last two fights. However, it’s pretty sad that Ortiz had to be matched against such mediocre opponents in order for him to get victories. Believe me, if Ortiz had been put in with good fighters like Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman, he likely would have been beaten again.
“I’m ready to fight for a world title. Especially after this victory that’s coming. This is for personal satisfaction. Berto has been talking for five years and I’m ready to go,” said Ortiz. “I’m ready to conquer the 147 and 154 pound divisions and Andre Berto is standing in my way right now.”
If Ortiz is going to conquer the 147 and 154lb divisions, then he’s going to need to start making his move soon, because his career is draining away from inactivity. Ortiz doesn’t have the size or the chin to hang with the best 147lb fighters like Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter or Tim Bradley. If and when Ortiz moves up to 154, he’s going to have problems when he faces the Charlo brothers and Erislandy Lara. Those guys would likely easily beat Ortiz.
Boxing fans might take Ortiz a little more seriously if he actually went out and proved himself before he started opening his mouth in talking about what he’s going to do with his career in the near future at 147 and 154.
Fighting the likes of Berto, Perez and Leon aren’t the type of fighters that you face if you want to conquer the 147 and 154lb divisions. Those are the type of fighters you face when you’re going after one of the trinket titles that fighters fight for when they don’t have the talent to fight for a world title.
It’s really difficult to predict a winner in the Ortiz vs. Berto fight because it’s been such a long time since these guys have fought at a world level. Berto has really slowed down in the last five years in terms of hand speed, and he doesn’t look anything like the fighter that at one time was one of the best fighters in the welterweight division. Ortiz hasn’t improved at all since his 4th round knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2011.
If anything, the time away from the sport has badly eroded Ortiz’s skills to the point where you can argue that he doesn’t rate to be ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies at this time. Ortiz isn’t ranked right now in the top 15 at welterweight, but you can bet that he surely will if he defeats Berto on April 30.
Berto is ranked #3 by the World Boxing Council at 147 despite the fact that he’s lost four out of his last seven fights in the past five years. With all those defeats, Berto does not deserve to be ranked at Number 3 by the WBC. That’s a ranking that would seem to be based on what Berto did in the past rather than what he’s done in the last five years of his career.
It’s hardly fair to the fighters ranked below Berto in the WBC’s rankings like Errol Spence and Sammy Vasquez. Those fighters would likely beat Berto quite easily if given the chance.
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