Luis Ortiz vs. Alexander Ustinov possible for Kovalev-Ward card

By Boxing News - 08/16/2016 - Comments

Image: Luis Ortiz vs. Alexander Ustinov possible for Kovalev-Ward card

By Patrick McHugh: Heavyweights Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 Kos) and Alexander Ustinov (33-1, 24 KOs) could wind up on the undercard of the light heavyweight fight between IBF/WBA/WBO champion Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward on November 19 on HBO pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to Dan Rafael.

Vlad Hrunov won a purse bid for his promoter Andrey Ryabinsky’s World of Boxing this week, and they plan on putting the fight together. What was interesting about the purse bid was that Ortiz’s promoters at Golden Boy didn’t take part in the purse bid. It makes you wonder about Ortiz’s future with the promotional giant.

The Ortiz vs. Ustinov fight would be an excellent addition to the Kovalev-Ward fight card because right now it’s still unknown which fighters will be on the undercard. Having Ortiz and Ustinov fighting it out on the card would be a nice fight for the card. It’s doubtful that boxing fans would purchase the fight on HBO PPV just to see the Ortiz vs. Ustinov fight, but it would still make for an interesting fight for the fans that do purchase the card.

The Ortiz-Ustinov fight ward supposed to be taking place on the undercard of next months’ fight between WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on September 17 on HBO pay-per-view from the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Ortiz, 37, has a contract dispute with his promoters at Golden Boy, according to Rafael. Ortiz opted to pull out of the card.

The unbeaten Cuban Ortiz will likely be seen as a huge favorite to defeat the 39-year-old Ustinov. It could very well be a mismatch, because Ortiz is a highly skilled southpaw heavyweight with excellent punching power and superb boxing skills. Ustinov is a big heavyweight with a lot flaws and very little hand speed. Ustinov will be lucky if he makes it to the 6th round against Ortiz

Ustinov was stopped in the 11th round by Kubrat Pulev in 2012. Pulev did little more than throw jabs in that fight, but he beat Ustinov up and the fight was mercifully halted in the 11th. Ustinov has won his last six fights since then in beating lower level opposition rather than contenders. His wins have come against David Tua, Konstantin Airich, Maurice Harris, Travis Walker, Chauncy Welliver and Ivica Perkovic.

Ortiz, 6’4”, has recently put together some nice wins over Tony Thompson, Bryant Jennings, Matias Ariel Vidondo, Byron Polley, Lateef Kayode and Monte Barrett.