By Dean Berman: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder is predicting a knockout in the outcome of his rematch against Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs) on November 23 on FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The conventional wisdom is that the 6’7″ Wilder will be the one that winds up the winner in this contest, as they base that on his recent performances. He’s looking really good right now, and is coming off of a 1st round knockout win over Dominic Breazeale.
(Photo credit: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Ortiz had Wilder hurt in the 7th round last year in their first fight in March 2018, but he couldn’t quite finish him. At the start of the 8th, Wilder looked like he hadn’t recovered. The start of the round was delayed due to the ringside doctor wanting to check on Wilder to see if he was alright.
Although it only took roughly two seconds for the doctor to check the status of Wilder, Ortiz felt that it made a difference in the fight. Wilder recovered during that time. Ortiz believes he would have finished Wilder if not for the time taken for the ringside doctor to examine him.
Wilder predicts: Somebody is going to get knocked out
“When I was in there, I knew I had to strategically move, because he’s a strategic counter puncher,” said Wilder. “So it allowed me to think about what I did before I did it, because every time I punched, he would throw back and have a reaction.
“The first time I came out and threw a punch, I did a major ‘Oh.’ I was amazed at the reaction I gave him as soon as I gave him something, and I knew I was in for a fight. That’s what a champion wants to be up against.
“That’s what a champion wants to put his belt on the line for. Here I am the second time. A lot of people call me crazy. They say I’m crazy for going in there to fight him again. Maybe so, and maybe that’s why my last name is Wilder.
“I look forward to it. I think it’s going to be amazing. Somebody is going to get knocked out, and you know what I come to do. I come to bring the pain and bring the knockout,” said Wilder.
There’s a very good chance one of these two fighters is going to get knocked out in this fight, because both guys are huge punchers. What’s more, both will be swinging for the fences. Ortiz is a powerful southpaw who can punch well to the head or the body. Wilder has already shown that his punch resistance isn’t the best. It’s not the worst, but he clearly is fragile in the chin department.
Wilder’s power, speed and size could be a problem for Ortiz once again. The last time, Ortiz couldn’t hold up once Wilder started letting his hands go. Ortiz was fine in the first seven rounds, because Wilder fought in a timid manner.
Ortiz talks about rematch with Wilder
“The two men, when they’re going to fight, the two most dangerous men are him and me,” said Ortiz. “Either I’ll come out on top or he’ll still be the world champion. It’s the big battle for the heavyweights.”
It could be Wilder that gets hurt in this fight. You can’t rule out, since he’s going to be leaving himself open when he goes after Ortiz early on. Ortiz has an advantage in this fight knowing that Wilder is going to be reckless early on. Wilder has the confidence from having beaten Ortiz previously, and the fact that he’s coming off of an impressive win over Breazeale.
Wilder discusses being hurt by Ortiz in 7th
“In the 7th round, I was literally talking to myself, as I was right here by myself and that’s why I was able to smother his punches,” said Wilder about his reaction to being hurt by Ortiz in the 7th round. “That’s why I was able to stay on the outside. ‘Make sure the ref sees you punch, and make sure the referee, because this looks bad.’
“If you’re on the outside looking in the 7th round, it looked nasty. It looked bad. Even when I look at the replays and look, I’m like, ‘Oh, they’re going to stop it,’ you know. But all my will to win, it overcame all that,” said Wilder.
The referee could have stopped the fight in the 7th and no one would have blamed him. Wilder looked hurt, and defenseless. He was too hurt to throw anything back at Ortiz for the last minute and half of the 7th after he was hurt by a left.
Ortiz upset with doctor delaying start of round 8
“No, no, no. It’s a nightmare, that doctor. I should have knocked him out too,” said Ortiz. “I sometimes think about the doctor, because I think they should have let us keep fighting.”
Ortiz has a good reason to be angry about the ringside doctor delaying the beginning of the 8th, because Wilder’s legs looked shaky when he walked over. After the doctor’s quick exam, Wilder looked stable and fully recovered. That brief amount of time that the doctor spent with Wilder seemed to energize him to fight on.
Wider says it didn’t matter that doctor checked on him
“I don’t see how two seconds could have been a factor, because any fighter knows, two seconds isn’t going to do nothing,” said Wilder about the start of round eight being delayed by the ringside doctor giving him a quick look over. “That’s not giving me nothing.”
It could have mattered that the 8th was delayed. You can argue that it didn’t help Ortiz in the slightest having the eighth round delayed.
“Yeah, it’s not nothing. I’m just saying that no one should have come up,” said Ortiz about the ringside doctor delaying the start of round eight when Wilder was badly hurt from round seven. “They should have let us keep fighting”
