Jamaine Ortiz will be under the lights tonight when he looks to rip the WBO light welterweight title from champion Teofimo Lopez in their Top Rank-promoted show live on ESPN.
Ortiz (17-1-1, 8 KOs) is fully focused on the task against the confident Teofimo (19-1, 13 KOs), who has spent the better part of the promoter calling out welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
If Jamaine, 27, wins tonight, he can cash in on big-money opportunities against Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and other top fighters. Top Rank obviously believes Teofimo is safe with this pick; otherwise, they wouldn’t have made the fight.
There’s too much money on the line for Teofimo to make by putting him in with someone who would have a good chance of beating him.
No Looking Past Lopez
“I don’t look past it. I’m focused strictly on Thursday night, February 8th. Teofimo Lopez is all I’m focused on. I’m not looking past that on what’s going to happen after that,” said Jamaine Ortiz to Boxing Social when asked if he’s thinking about the big-money fights that will be available to him if he’s victorious tonight against WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez in Las Vegas.
Jamaine isn’t distracted by the big fights that are out there for him if he’s victorious tonight. He knows that if he’s not 100% dialed in, he could lose to Teofimo, especially with how he looked in his last fight against Josh Taylor.
“I want to thank God. I appreciate this opportunity and for all my fans and everybody that supports me.”
“I do feel people underrate me, people who don’t go into my career to see what I’m capable of. I feel that will be done and over with when I win on February 8th,” said Ortiz to ProBox TV.
Underrated, Yet Confident
“It’s not going to be a question of being an underrated fighter. In the sense of ring IQ and power and speed, it’s going to be different,” said Jamaine.
“What he says about fighting other fighters, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m focused on him. I’m not focused on what he’s doing and what he’s saying.
“I’m focused on February 8th and my job,” said Ortiz when asked about his thoughts on Teofimo having used the build-up to their fight to talk about wanting to fight other guys, like Devin Haney and Terence Crawford.
