Luis Ortiz won’t be fighting Anthony Joshua

By Boxing News - 04/24/2019 - Comments

Image: Luis Ortiz won't be fighting Anthony Joshua

By Big D: Cuban Heavy weight challenger, Luis King Kong Ortiz (31-1-26KO’s) has ruled him self out of a career high payday against IBF, WBA, WBO, IBO British World Champion, Anthony Joshua (22-0-21KO’s) at the MSG arena on June 1st. Hearn was hoping to get the Cuban as a late replacement for Jarrell Miller who recently failed three separate drugs tests.

Luis and his team posted this message on Instagram. Their statement reads “It’s a no go for June 1…Sorry guys we where [sic] told to stay as quiet as possible and play possum until fight had been made because every time someone called out Luis it would be a gimmick to promote them self but it still didn’t work.“We just received word from promoter it’s a no go and it was all a gimmick and Hearn’s low ball offers will not be accepted and no contract even ever got sent over so sorry to all the loyal fans.

“Luis really wanted this title shot.”

At first glance it would be easy to blame Eddie Hearn for failing to make this fight. After all a lot of fans believe Eddie has made low ball offers to Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte and now Ortiz. But more and more boxing fans are starting to ask questions, how serious was Luis and his team? And why are there so many contradicting remarks In that statement which don’t make sense?

The first question that’s springs to many boxing fans mind is, Why was Luis Ortiz told to be quiet? I would like to point out that Ortiz is a very vocal man on his social media pages. The amount of people he has called out or referenced In the past 6 months is just crazy. But in his statement, the reason being quiet was because he felt like his name has been used to promote and gain exposure for other fighters. In this instance, it’s Anthony Joshua. The general consensus is Anthony Joshua is a far bigger name not only in the USA but the world when compared to Luis Ortiz. So the logical question asks, Why would Anthony Joshua need to name drop Ortiz to gain more exposure? In the Past Anthony Joshua has been on popular television and radio shows in the US such ESPN, Conan, The breakfast Club and SWAY’S Radio Show. In reality, Anthony does not need Luis Ortiz to gain exposure.

Luis Ortiz claims “it was all a gimmick” on Eddie Hearn’s behalf. I’m not sure how or why they would feel this way. I don’t think Hearn has a lot of time on his hands to find Anthony a fight by June 1st and then to promote the fight within 6-5 weeks. So for Eddie Hearn to be fooling around with fake disingenuous offers is highly unlikely in such critical time. So again, this does not make any sense to many boxing fans leading them to question the legitimacy of that remark.

Ortiz goes on to say, “low ball offers will not be accepted and no contract even ever got sent.” Again this is a contradiction in it’s self. Of course Hearn isn’t going to send over any contacts if the offer hasn’t been agreed upon in the first place. It would appear that team Ortiz are trying to make Hearn look as thought he was never interested in making the fight by suggesting they (Team Ortiz) wanted a contract. But none was sent, putting the blame at Hearn feet.

Then there is the matter of the low ball offer and it’s worth. To my knowledge, there has been no official figure released by team Ortiz or Eddie Hearn at the time of writing this article. It’s been rumored that Jarrell Miller was going to receive around $6-8 million depending on the upside from sky PPV numbers. Most if not all boxing fans would agree that Ortiz is a bigger name and poses more of a challenge to Anthony in the Heavy weight division than Miller. So it would be fair to say that Ortiz should receive at least equal to that of Miller’s purse. I’m aware that those who support Anthony Joshua will point out that Luis Ortiz’s highest purse was $500 thousand against Deontay Wilder, so anything over 500k (which was most likely) should have been accepted.

Well Jarrell Millers highest recorded purse was against Gerald Washington at $70,000. Now Miller was set to make 6-8 million dollars against Anthony Joshua, was this massive pay increase justified compared to his resume and global attraction? No it does not, Ortiz has the better resume, higher rankings with the governing bodies and a bigger name in the US market. That is why I believe Ortiz should Receive the same amount if not more than Miller. Let’s not forget that boxers who come from the Al Haymon PBC stable receive a extra back-hand loyalty money. Basically its like avoiding the TAX man or having a offshore back account. The extra back hand money these boxers receive means that the sanctioning body (WBC for example) will only get a percentage of the purse. So fight night, there purses might be small but in reality Ortiz most likely made over 1 million against Deontay Wilder for example.

But addressing the low ball offer claimed by Team Ortiz, this doesn’t sit well with many boxing fans as it makes no sense. Yes Hearn has been accused of low ball fighters in the past, but remember. This fight was sponsored by DAZN who were paying for Anthony Joshua and Jerrell Miller’s purses equaling over 50 million dollars. And prior to this DAZN was willing to pay 20 million dollars to Deontay Wilder to host the Breazeale fight. By having Anthony Joshua making his debut fight in the USA on DAZN is a big deal as this fight could bring a lot of subscribers to the DAZN platform. So I’m sure there pockets are deep enough to accommodate Ortiz’s demands.

But even if Eddie’s Offer was low, Why didn’t Team Ortiz demand more or attempt to negotiate? They have the power to do so, Hearn and AJ has limited options and the boxing public would rather see Ortiz vs Joshua more than Miller. Coupled with the fact Ortiz is the only boxer who offers a real challenge to Joshua. But team Ortiz didn’t negotiate which is seen by fans on both side of the camp as suspicious and casts doubts if Ortiz was ever serious.

But many fans feel Ortiz wanted the fight with Anthony Joshua but Al Haymon and PBC instructed Ortiz’s camp not to take the fight. As they have promised Ortiz he will get a rematch with Deontay Wilder in the not so distant future. Let’s face it, if Anthony beats Ortiz, and does so convincingly. It’s highly unlikely the fans won’t want to see Wilder vs Ortiz 2. And that’s bad news for PBC as they are actively trying to increase Deontay’s profile into a PPV name so he can bargain for a higher percentage when he faces Anthony Joshua.

Lance Pumire, A sports journalist for the L.A. Times posted a tweet saying, Just texted Luis Ortiz who tells me he could be ready for @Anthonyjoshua if his manager instructs him too. Don’t get the sense from @primierboxing that they will allow this.” This comment suggests that PBC are blocking this fight not Hearn or AJ. So now team Ortiz has to spin the narrative which suits the PBCs agender.

Over the coming days we should hear from Eddie Hearn on this matter and find out what the real offer was. And who is really to blame.