By Stanley White: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) is defending his title against his hand-picked opponent Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz (28-0, 24 KOs) this Saturday night on March 3 on SHOWTIME at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Wilder wants to welcome the 38-year-old Cuban Ortiz to the sport of boxing, because he says what he’s experienced in the past during his career is nothing like what he’s going to be dealing with on Saturday. Wilder, 32, says he’s the lion of the jungle, and he plans on going after ‘King Kong’ to rip him apart in their fight on Showtime Championship Boxing.
The 6’7” Wilder will be enjoying a 3 inch height advantage over the 6’4” Ortiz. What’s surprising is Ortiz will have a 1-inch reach advantage over Wilder in this fight. Of course, that doesn’t mean Ortiz will benefit from his small reach advantage. Wilder is faster and more mobile. If Ortiz is going to land anything in this fight, it’s going to be in situations where he’s countering Wilder after he throws a right hand. If Wilder’s right hand is able to find a home early, Ortiz might not get out of the 1st round. Wilder obliterated Bermane Stiverne by a 1st round knockout in his last fight in November. Wilder knocked Stiverne down 3 times with right hands.
“He dealing with a guy that ain’t afraid of not one human being on Earth, especially when you get in that jungle and I am the king of the jungle,” Wilder said to Fight News about Ortiz. ”I am the lion of the jungle. He’s never faced nobody with the pedigree with the killer instinct that I have inside of me.”
It’s true that Ortiz hasn’t fought anyone on Wilder’s level since he turned pro in 2010. Ortiz’s best opponents during his 8-year pro career have been Malik Scott, Bryant Jennings, Tony Thompson, Dave Allen and Lateef Kayode. Jennings is the best of the bunch, but he’s a small without much power. Former 2-time world title challenger Thompson was 45-year-old and over-the-hill when he fought Ortiz in 2016. This wasn’t Thompson at his best. Ortiz’s best experience in boxing came at the amateur level in Cuba. Ortiz has 349-19 record as an amateur, which shows how good of a fighter he was.
Wilder vs. Ortiz fight comes down to these areas:
• Speed – Wilder
• Power – Wilder
• Youth – Wilder
• Punch resistance – Ortiz
• Experience – Ortiz
• Ring IQ – Ortiz
The fight is evenly matched between these 2 giant heavyweights. What could give Wilder the advantage is his youth, speed and power. Ortiz’s age could be a major negative for him, as he’s in his late 30s and his speed has dropped off from where it was earlier in his career. There are rumors, of course, that Ortiz’s real age is 45-50, and much older than listed age. If that rumor is correct, that would explain why Ortiz has slowed down in the last 3 years. You can’t expect a fighter in his mid-40s to early 50s to be still as fast as they were in their 30s. If Ortiz is that old, he’s going to have a hard time dealing with Wilder’s youth, speed and punching power on Saturday. It doesn’t mean Ortiz can’t win, but he’ll need to take Wilder’s best right hand shots long enough for him to knock him out or beat him by a decision. Getting hit by Wilder won’t be good for Ortiz’s health. Even if he wins the fight, Ortiz might not have much left if he eats too many of Wilder’s right hands.
“Somebody’s ‘0’, got to go and you all already know what I come to do. I talk my talk to walk my walk,” Wilder said. ”It’s going to be up to Luis Ortiz to prove me wrong. He’s got an opportunity to be the first Cuban heavyweight champion of the world. It sounds good but he got a big task in front of him. He dealing with a monster. He dealing with a guy with a killer instinct.”
Wilder hasn’t faced anyone as good as Ortiz. Since Wilder won his WBC title, he’s fought a lot middle of the road opposition. He’s defended his WBC title successfully against Stiverne, Chris Arreola, Gerald Washington, Johan n Duhaupas, Artur Szpilka and Eric Molina. Ortiz is a step up from those guys in the speed, talent and punching department. Wilder is going to have to be careful at all times against Ortiz on Saturday if he doesn’t to wind up getting knocked out quickly like the Cuban’s last opponent Daniel Martz. Wilder might choose to gamble against Ortiz by going all out in the 1st round like he did in his last fight against Stiverne. Ortiz might not even get a chance to get warmed up if Wilder pounces on him right away. It would be risky though for Wilder to use that approach against a fighter with the power, size and skills of Ortiz. However, that style gives Wilder his best chance of success against talented fighters like Ortiz and Anthony Joshua, because they’re not as fast as him and they’re probably not going to be able to take getting hit full force with Wilder’s right hands without them getting stunned by one of them. Wilder is a great finisher. When gets an opponent hurt, it’s over with for them. No one has ever survived against Wilder when he’s had them hurt. The only fighter to go the distance with Wilder is Stiverne in their first fight in 2015. Wilder broke his right hand and was unable to put maximum power in his shots the way he wanted and needed to.
“I want people to get it in their mind that I could have ran from this fight,” Wilder said. “I could have chosen any opponent that I wanted to fight on March 3, especially when all the other stuff went about. I could have easily gone somewhere else but no, I’m adamant about what I say, I’m confident about what I’m going to do and I’m ready to prove it to the world.”
Wilder is definitely courageous in choosing Ortiz to defend his title against. That isn’t quite at the same level as Joshua’s fight with Wladimir Klitschko in 2017, but it’s close to that level. Ortiz is a dangerous guy with a lot of power. He could beat Wilder if he lands one of his left hands. That’s what makes this fight so interesting on Saturday. Ortiz has almost as much of a chance of winning as Wilder does. The boxing fans that tune in to see the Wilder-Ortiz fight on Showtime this Saturday are in for a real treat.