By Adam Baskin: Jamaine Ortiz says he wants to face Shakur Stevenson or George Kambosos Jr for one of the lightweight belts if undisputed champion Devin Haney vacates his four straps to move up to 140.
Stevenson has talked about wanting to fight Ortiz to thrash him for the comments he’s made about him. With both guys fighting for Top Rank, there’s an excellent chance they could meet up next if a better opportunity is unavailable.
Shakur wants to challenge for the WBC 135-lb title against Haney or face Gervonta Davis for his secondary WBA belt when he gets out of jail. However, neither of those fights is likely to happen.
Some would argue that the primary reason Haneey is moving up to 140 is that he recognizes that the World Boxing Council is on the verge of ordering him to defend against Stevenson.
Whatever exaggerated self-confidence Haney once had has gone up in smoke in the aftermath of his fight with Vasyl Lomachenko last month.
No longer talking bold like he’d been doing before that encounter, Haney is abandoning the 135-lb division, and he’s expected to vacate his four titles.
Lomachenko knocked the confidence out of Haney, leaving him in the state he is in now, quiet, no longer boasting about himself, quitting the lightweight division to avoid what some think would be a guaranteed loss to Shakur.
Jamaine (16-1-1, 8 KOs) is fighting Humberto Galindo (14-3-1, 11 KOs) in a ten round clash on the undercard of Josh Taylor vs. Teofimo Lopez on ESPN & ESPN+ at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“Well, let’s see; try to put me in my place because I’m pretty sure that somebody else is going to be taking a new place after I beat Shakur Stevenson, and that’ll be me for sure,” said Jamaine Ortiz to Fighthype about his wanting to face the undefeated highly ranked lightweight contender Shakur Stevenson.
“I can’t even tell you I can’t tell, but it ain’t gonna look like a regular Shakur Stevenson fight, I’ll tell you that,” said Jamaine when asked what his match with Shakur will be like.
“It’s going to be different. I just know I’m going to win. Everybody is going to be surprised like they usually are.
“It’s going to be tough [to land punches on Shakur]. Me and my team we’re going to figure it out, work it out. You’re going to have to see. No, my size won’t be much of an issue.
“I don’t think so unless he wants to fight me. I don’t think so,” said Ortiz when asked if he thinks Devin Haney will stay at 135. “We’ll see. Everybody’s different.
“Yeah for sure. After this one, if I look good and I play my part and do my part well, there will be a lot of big opportunities my way. Obviously, Shakur that’s #1. I know that would be for a world title, and that’s what I want. I want the world title.
“If he [Haney] moves up, me and [George] Kambosos can get it on. Me and Shakur can unify. Probably. Nothing is ever set in stone. Boxing is a lot of chatter. Who knows when the fight actually happens?
“I’m picking Taylor,” said Jamaine, choosing WBO light welterweight champion Josh Taylor to defeat Teofimo Lopez this Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. “I’m picking Taylor. There ain’t much to it.”
