By Dan Ambrose: Six-year professional Jamaine ‘The Technician’ Ortiz says he will “shock” the world tonight by defeating Vasyl Lomachenko in their headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Top Rank-promoted event will be shown tonight on ESPN+ at 10:00 p.m. ET.
The 26-year-old Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs) feels overlooked by the former three-division world champion Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs), who has designs on challenging undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney next.
Instead, Ortiz says it will be him that faces the unbeaten Haney for his four belts after he beats the favorite Lomachenko tonight.
Ortiz’s only two notable fights on his resume are Joseph Adorno, who he fought to an eight round draw in 2021, and Jamel Herring. Jamaine defeated the former WBO 130-lb champion Herring last May by a 10-round unanimous decision and sent him into retirement.
If Jamaine defeats Lomachenko tonight, it’ll be interesting to see if he retires, too, because it would be a massive blow to the two-time Olympic gold medalist’s career.
Losing to Ortiz would mean that Lomachenko could forget about a title shot against Haney, and it’s fair to say that he wouldn’t be given the time a day by WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis or Ryan Garcia.
“I think they’re really underestimating me. I understand the caliber of the level of Lomachenko and what he’s done, but I’m going to show the world that this wasn’t a tune-up, this wasn’t a warm-up, and Lomachenko is in for a fight,” said Ortiz to RingTV about his fight tonight.
“I’m trying to be the best; I’m going to be the best, creating a legendary status for myself and going down in the history books of boxing,” said Jamaine Ortiz to Inside The Ring With Rebecca Ruber.
“I’m past that. I don’t think Joseph Adorno is relevant right now,” said Jamaine when asked if he’s looking for a rematch against Adorno, who he fought to an eight round draw last year in 2021. Adorno has since lost to Michel Rivera earlier this year in March.
“I’m looking to do undisputed right after this fight. I don’t know where he’s at. Unless he’s got some titles and something to bring to the table, I’m looking past that to become a legend.
“A lot of improvements we’ve made. A lot of getting back to the basics, sticking to the basics, and doing things that are basic in boxing by sticking to the fundamentals,” said Jamaine about the improvements he’s made in his game since his victory over Jamel Herring last May.
“Shocking,” said Ortiz when asked to describe in one word how his fight with Lomachenko would go tonight.
