Luis Ortiz promises 100% he won’t GAS out against Deontay Wilder

By Boxing News - 11/05/2019 - Comments

By Jeff Aronow: Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz has worked on his conditioning and he believes he 100% will NOT fade in the later rounds of his rematch with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on November 23. The two fought last year in March in Brooklyn, New York, and Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs) gassed out in the 8th round. Two rounds later, Ortiz was stopped by Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) in the 10th after getting knocked down twice.

(Photo credit: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)

It wasn’t so much that Ortiz’s conditioning was giving him problems against Wilder last year. Ortiz came apart when Wilder recovered from being hurt in the 7th, and nailed him with a heavy shot in the 9th. Suddenly, Ortiz looked tired after getting staggered.

Ortiz, 40, believes that he’s put in the work needed for him to avoid the same problems he had the last time he fought the powerful 6’7″ Wilder.

Former Cuban amateur talent Ortiz and Wilder will be facing each other on FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View on November 23 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Ortiz vows not to gas out again

“We are correcting things from the last fight [with Wilder] that won’t happen in the rematch, and looking for the best for me and my team,” said Ortiz to Fighthub. “My diet and the different training that I’m not doing,” said Ortiz when asked what he was doing differently in training for the rematch with Wilder. “Along with weights, physical therapy and other training.

“A lot of things happened in the camp, and in the fight and even in the hours before the fight.  There are no excuses, and it won’t happen like it did last time. I have one of the best physical trainers, and my trainer is 100 percent on me. My condition is 100%. I know for a fact I won’t gas out on the night of the fight.

“Everything! Wilder knows and if he’s not prepared and taking me seriously, he’s in big trouble. I saw there were mistakes I made in the fight, and what I’ve done is strengthen my preparation so that I don’t repeat that. I await November 23 to be world champion, and realize my dream. Everything that happened. It just wasn’t my night.

“I just want to show the world that I’m better, and the best. I’m going to fight this fight differently. When the bell sounds on November 23, I will be the difference, and do everything I have done in my whole life and I will do that night,” said Luis.

Ortiz has won his last three bouts since his loss to Wilder, but he’s been forced to go the distance twice against Travis Kauffman and Christian Hammer. Moreover, Ortiz looked sluggish and slow in defeating the 32-year-old Hammer (24-6, 14 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision last March. The scores were 100-90. 99-91 and 99-91.

YouTube video

Wilder doesn’t believe he’ll KO me early – Ortiz

“I don’t believe that, and he doesn’t either,” said Ortiz when told that Wilder plans on knocking him out earlier in the fight than last time. “I don’t believe he’s going to knock me out just like that. If he knocks me out like that, I’ll leave boxing. I respect Wilder a lot.

“It’s nothing personal, and it’s a sport and he wants to reach the highest levels. The whole world knows the first fight wasn’t going his way, and I want it back.

For me, he’s the most dangerous boxer in the world because every punch is like a boulder from all sides, and he knows that’s the same for me as well because I don’t mess around in the ring.Yeah, he can hit because he’s got 40 fights and 40 knockouts.

“He’s a boxer that you can’t get overconfident with. Well, he has confidence in him, but I do as well. That’s what happens when two trains come together. That’s what will happen on November 23,” said Ortiz.

Wilder likely does believe that he’ll knockout Ortiz early, because he’s fighting with a tremendous amount of confidence right now. He stopped his last opponent Dominic Breazeale in the 1st round last May. Wilder looked confident in taking out Breazeale with a single right hand to the head. The added weight that Wilder has put on seems to helped his punching power. Wilder weighed 214 pounds for his fight against the 241 lb. Ortiz last year.

That was basically a cruiserweight against a heavyweight, and yet Wilder still won. In Deontay’s last fight, he bulked up to 223 lbs. and stopped Breazeale with a single punch. Ortiz weighed 238 lb. for his last bout against Hammer.

YouTube video

Ortiz plans on upsetting Wilder’s rematch plans with Fury

“The most intelligent one will win that night,” said Ortiz. “Winning the fight, the whole heavyweight division knows that King Kong is here, and they have the biggest problem of the century on their hands. For me, it’s the dream, the goal of every boxer to be world champion. It’s been my dream since I got here to the U.S to accomplish it, and help my daughter.

“Those plans they have, they are trembling, because the fight won’t be easy,” said Ortiz about the rematch between Tyson Fury and Wilder. “No, I’m focused on this fight. I’m not interested in what comes. Having a title, they will have to come see me if they want to be the champion. If not, they can keep fighting who they’ve been fighting,” said Ortiz.

For Ortiz to mess up Wilder’s plans for the Tyson Fury rematch, he’ll need to get to him early in the contest. Wilder is going to be looking to take Ortiz’s head off with his right hand shots early on. Ortiz is a good fighter, but he couldn’t stay on his feet each time Wilder hit him hard last year. Wilder dropped Ortiz in the 5th round after hitting him with a right hand.

Wilder and Fury are scheduled to face each other in a rematch next February. The way things are going with Fury, there’s no telling whether he’ll make it to that fight. Fury has cut over his right eye that is still healing from his last fight against Otto Wallin last September. That cut required 46 stitches to close. The cut likely wouldn’t have been that bad if the ringside doctor had stopped the contest shortly after the cut occurred in the 3rd.