Luis Ortiz

By Jeff Aranow: Last Saturday’s fight between interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs) and Tony “The Tiger” Thompson (40-7m 27 KOs) averaged 740,000 viewers on HBO Boxing After Dark with a peak of 807,000 viewers, according to ESPN. Ortiz stopped Thompson in the 6th round after knocking him down three times in their fight at the DC Armory in Washington, DC.

The ratings were a positive upsurge from the 36-year-old Ortiz’s previous fight against American Bryant Jennings from last December. That fight averaged 616,000 viewers. However, perhaps one reason for the increased ratings for the Cuban Ortiz’s fight against the 44-year-old Thompson was the fact former WBA light welterweight champion Jessie Vargas was on the undercard fighting the previously unbeaten Sadam Ali.

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By Jeff Aranow: Interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs) believes the top heavyweights in the division are going to have to fight him sooner or later. Ortiz, who is backed by Golden Boy Promotions and being heavily hyped by HBO Boxing, defeated 44-year-old Tony Thompson (40-7, 27 KOs) last Saturday night at the DC Armory in Washington, DC.

Ortiz, 6’4”, 242lbs, knocked the 6’5” southpaw Thompson down three times in the contest in dropping him once in the 1st, 3rd and 6th round. Referee Malik Waleed was finally forced to stop the fight at 2:29 of the 6th round after Thompson hurt his right knee while falling down from a knockdown.

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By Dan Ambrose: In an embarrassingly one-sided fight, interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong (25-0, 22 KOs) flattened the aging 44-year-old former two-time world title challenger Tony “The Tiger” Thompson (40-7, 27 KOs) in stopping him in the 6th round on Saturday night in a fight televised by HBO Boxing from the DC Armory, in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.

Ortiz, 36, knocked Thompson down with a left hand to the head in the 6th. Thompson hurt his knee and couldn’t get back up. Referee Malik Waleed then halted the fight at 2:28 of the round. Ortiz also knocked Thompson down with left hands to the head in the 1st and 3rd round.

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(Photo Credit: Louis Tinsley – Tom Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions) By Allan Fox: Interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) is very confident about his fight against Tony Thompson (40-6, 27 KOs) this Saturday night at the DC Armory in Washington, DC. The articulate Thompson has done most of the talking in the run up to Saturday’s fight, but Ortiz figures he’ll have the last word when they get inside the ring.

Ortiz expects to best Thompson and go back home a winner. This should be a good fight for as long as it lasts. Thompson has the size and the experience to give Ortiz his best test of his career. Ortiz is coming off of a 7th round knockout win over Bryant Jennings last December.

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By Jeff Aranow: This Saturday’s fight between interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) and Tony Thompson (40-6, 27 KOs) will not have Ortiz’s interim WBA title on the line, according to Fight News. The Ortiz vs. Thompson fight will be televised on HBO Boxing.

The reasons are because the 44-year-old Thompson isn’t ranked in the top 15 by the World Boxing Association at this time. Further, Thompson was recently beaten by Malik Scott in October of last year in his last fight. Thompson was also beaten by Carlos Takam and Kubrat Pulev in the last three years.

All total, Thompson has lost three out of his last five fights. The only wins Thompson has since 2014 were both against an out of shape Odlanier Solis. The WBA also wanted Golden Boy Promotions to put together a fight between Ortiz and #5 WBA Alexander Ustinov, and that has failed to happen unfortunately.

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By Dan Ambrose: With a little over a week to go before the March 5 fight between interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) and 44-year-old former two-time world title challenger (40-6, 27 KOs), there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered from the 36-year-old Cuban Ortiz.

Ortiz sees Thompson as a stepping stone to him winning the WBA title outright and then unifying the titles, but he still hasn’t shown whether he can hang with the top guys. Ortiz wants to unify the heavyweight titles. That’s going to be very hard for him to do if his promoters at Golden Boy aren’t able to get the other world champions to fight him.

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