By Max Schramm: Former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (32-6-3, 25 KOs) is vowing to defeat Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero this Saturday night in their scheduled 10-round fight in the chief support bout on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Yordenis Ugas card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Many fans are unaware Victor Ortiz is fighting on Saturday
Surprisingly, many boxing fans aren’t even aware that Victor Ortiz is fighting Robert Guerrero on Saturday, as the match hasn’t been promoted enough to alert the general public.
As one would expect, most of the attention is on the Pacquiao vs. Ugas fight on Saturday, as it might be the last one for the Filipino star.
Victor Ortiz in a must-win fight
Ortiz’s fight against 38-year-old Guerrero is viewed as a toss-up in the eyes of the boxing world, as both of these guys are viewed as long-in-the-tooth and many years past their best.
Just on ring intelligence and pure toughness, Guerrero has an excellent chance of beating Ortiz on Saturday. In other words, you won’t see Guerrero quit in the fight if he’s having problems in taking punishment and dealing with adversity.
“A lot of people have asked me, ‘Are you retired, Victor?’ I‘m like, ‘No, you guys retired me. No,'” said Victor Ortiz on Thursday in letting the media know he’s still active with his career.
“I was going through some troubles of my own, I took care of them, and I’m back,” Victor Ortiz continued. “Coach Freddie [Roach] did what he needed to do, told me what he needed to tell me, and we’re ready to go Saturday night. We’re coming back for that victory. A nice victory Saturday night.
In Victor’s interviews this week, he’s come across like he has a chip on his shoulder, sounding bitter and defensive.
It’s unclear whether Ortiz understands why the media has questions about what happened to his once-promising career because it imploded so badly despite the physical tools he was blessed with.
With his talent, Ortiz should have captured additional world titles after his early loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr a decade ago, but he seemed to crumble mentally and lose his focus.
It was sad to see such a great talent like Victor fails to take advantage of his ability.
Is Victor Ortiz a quitter?
We’ve already seen Ortiz arguably quit in his fights against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Josesito Lopez, and Marcos Maidana. Also, Ortiz wilted in his fight with Lamont Peterson and went into the shutdown mode in the second half of the fight, resulting in the match being ruled a 12 round draw.
The 34-year-old Ortiz believes that a victory over the former two-division world champion ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero (36-6-1, 20 KOs) will put him in a position to challenge for a world title against one of the champions at 147.
It’s been over three years since Ortiz last fought in battling to an unimpressive 12 round draw against shopworn over-the-hill former two-division world champion Devon Alexander in February 2018.
Ortiz hasn’t looked really sharp against top-level opposition since his 12 round unanimous decision Andre Berto in April 2011.
That’s the fight that opened the doors for Ortiz getting a big payday against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September 2011, which he lost by a fourth round knockout. That fight began a free-fall for Ortiz in which his career has plummeted with him losing to these fighters:
- Luis Collazo
- Josesito Lopez
- Andre Berto
Ortiz’s only wins over the last ten years have come against second-tier fodder level fighters, who were talented enough to keep him up there among the best in the 147-lb division.
Now having been out of the ring for the last three years, it’s difficult to take Ortiz seriously as a fighter, particularly when he talks about going after world titles.
With that said, if Ortiz is able to pull it off and capture a world title in his comeback, it would be a huge accomplishment. As bad as Ortiz Jr has looked in the last decade, it’s impossible to imagine him recapturing a world title at this point.
“I’m not much of a talker. I’ll let my fists do the talking in the ring on Saturday night,” said Victor Ortiz.
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” said Ortiz when asked if he helped Manny Pacquiao with sparring to get him ready for his fight against Yordnis Ugas, given that he shared the same coach as the Filipino star in Freddie Roach.
“I was dieting correctly, I was in bed at the right times, and I’m ready,” Victor Ortiz said about him being ready for his co-feature bout against ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero on Saturday.
“I’m an experienced vet now, so I’m good,” Ortiz said when asked what makes him better at 34 than he was when he was 24, during the time that he held the WBC 147-lb title in 2011.
Ortiz has the power, speed, and talent to steamroll over former featherweight champion Guerrero on Saturday, but there’s a good chance that’ll he’ll fall apart if he’s dragged into a dogfight by ‘The Ghost.’