Luis Ortiz vs. Tony Thompson on March 5 on HBO

Image: Luis Ortiz vs. Tony Thompson on March 5 on HBOLOS ANGELES (Feb. 8, 2016) – Fresh from a stunning knockout of Bryant “By-By” Jennings and eager to continue his quest to be the best heavyweight in the sport, WBA Interim Heavyweight World Champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) will make his first title defense of 2016 when he faces former world title challenger Tony “The Tiger” Thompson (40-6, 27 KOs) in 12-round main event at the DC Armory, in Washington D.C.on Saturday, March 5 and televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark®beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Opening up the live telecast, top contender and 2008 Olympian Sadam “World Kid” Ali (22-0, 13 KOs) will face former WBA Super Lightweight World Champion Jessie Vargas (26-1, 9 KOs) in a 12-round co-main event for the vacant WBO Welterweight World Championship.

“This fight is just another stepping stone on my path to becoming the unified heavyweight world champion,” said Luis Ortiz. “I came to the United States to chase my American Dream and fighting at the nation’s capital is a dream come true. My life is coming full circle, and I know that this fight will put me a step closer to achieving everything I have worked so hard for in my career.”

“I’m happy to be back on HBO fighting for another world title,” said Tony Thompson. “If you look at my competition and his [Ortiz], it’s not even close. This isn’t the amateurs. I’m going to use my experience as a professional to take him places he’s never been.

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Luis Ortiz looking for a new opponent for March 5 fight

Image: Luis Ortiz looking for a new opponent for March 5 fightBy Tim Fletcher: Interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) is looking for a new opponent for his March 5 fight on HBO after his previously scheduled opponent Alexander Dimitrenko (38-2, 24 KOs) reportedly pulled out of the fight.

According to ESPN, Dimitrenko wanted more money to take the fight after initially agreeing to the deal. You can’t blame the 6’7” Dimitrenko for wanting to be well paid for a fight against the hard hitting Cuban Ortiz, because this guy is not an easy fight.

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Luis Ortiz to face Alexander Dimitrenko on March 5 on HBO

dimitrenko434333By Allan Fox: Interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) will be facing former heavyweight contender Alexander Dimitrenko (38-2, 24 KOs) on March 5 on HBO Boxing After Dark at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C, according to Dan Rafael.

Ortiz’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions had problems finding an opponent for the 36-year-old Ortiz, as many heavyweights were said to have turned down a fight with them. The 33-year-old Dimitrenko was accepted by HBO, which is kind of surprising because Dimitrenko’s career has tanked since he was stopped in the 11th round four years ago by Kubrat Pulev in 2012.

Since that loss, Dimitrenko has fought mainly poor journeyman in beating Drazan Janjanin, Milos Dovedan, Zoltan Csala, Patryk Kowoll, Ivica Perkovic and Samir Kurtagic. The 6’7” Dimitrenko was a fighter that was groomed for a long time to be an eventual world champion, but he never panned out.

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Golden Boy having problems getting Luis Ortiz an opponent for 3/5 fight

1-OrtizVidondo_Hoganphotos2By Allan Fox: Golden Boy Promotions is having problems finding an opponent to face interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) for his March 5 fight on HBO. According to Dan Rafael, the following heavyweights have turned down an offer from Golden Boy to fight Ortiz: Andrey Fedosov, Andy Ruiz and Carlos Takam.

The 6’4” Ortiz might have scared away the potential candidates for a fight against him with his recent 7th round knockout win over Bryant Jennings. Ortiz fought with a flu and still was able to dominate Jennings and show skills that many of the heavyweights in the division can only dream about.

Per Golden Boy Boxing, several heavyweights have turned down facing Luis Ortiz on March 5 in Washington, DC, some without even hearing the money!” Dan Rafael said on his Twitter. “Among opponents (their teams really) I’m told turned down 3/5 HBO main event vs Luis Ortiz: Carlos Takam, Andy Ruiz, Andrey Fedosov. #boxing.”

There aren’t too many fighters that want to risk their standings in a fight against the 36-year-old Ortiz, and you can’t really blame them. Ortiz isn’t a full heavyweight champion, so the money that the fighters are going to be getting to face him probably isn’t going to be all that much. If this was a real title fight against the likes of WBC champion Deontay Wilder, WBA champ Ruslan Chagaev, IBO/WBA/WBO champion Tyson Fury or IBF champion Charles Martin, then it would be well worth it for challengers to accept a fight against one of them. But with Ortiz, it’s just not worth it. A loss is too much of a career drag and it takes too much time to come back from it.

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Heavyweight Dark Horse – Luis Ortiz

1-OrtizVidondo_Hoganphotos1By G Bell: While I think that WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder is an adequate heavyweight, there is a dark horse hovering around the heavyweight division that more than a few fighters and managers seem to be quietly steering their fighters around.

I believe he is the next heavyweight with the skill and power to beat Wilder, Tyson Fury, and Wladimir Klitschko. His name is Luis Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs). He is a two-time and current WBA interim heavyweight champion and his nickname is appropriately “The Real King Kong.”

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Who’s the True King of Heavyweight division?

1-deontay-wilder (6)By Matthew J. Hunter: WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder defended his title in a 9th round knockout over Artur Szpilka last Saturday at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. It was a competitive fight that featured the Polish underdog, who confused Wilder via his southpaw stance and superior footwork. While the fight itself wasn’t a massive fight, the event itself spurred the renewed interest in the Heavyweight division.

The Heavyweight division, which has in recent memory been a shadow of the golden era of the mid to late 20th century, has in the past couple years built a massive amount of momentum towards becoming a glamour division in boxing. At the top, depending who you ask, sits Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder. They are both big heavyweights who seem to be vying for the heavyweight throne. After Wilder’s last fight, Fury entered the ring and cut a memorable WWE style promo. On one side there’s Fury almost singing, “There’s only one Tyson Fury,” and the other, the Alabama native going back to his Southern roots and stating, “I will baptize you.”
While Wilder may be a bigger name in the States, Fury beat the last King of the division in Vladimir Klitschko.

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WBA says Luis Ortiz must face Alexander Ustinov by June

ustinov545By Allan Fox: The World Boxing Association chairman Gilberto Jesus Mendoza has ruled the interim WBA heavyweight champion Luiz Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) must defend his title against #7 WBA Alexander Ustinov (33-1, 24 KOs) by June of this year.

This is a fight that Ustinov, 39, would likely have problems with because of the superior speed, punching power, athleticism and amateur experience of the 36-year-old Ortiz. Both heavyweights are big and getting up there in age, but Ortiz is still fighting at a high level right now and would have to be favored over Ustinov.

“Subject to compliance with all other applicable WBA rules and the conditions previously reference,” says Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, WBA Championships Chairman via Fightnews.com. “Ortiz must face Ustinov on or before June 19, 2016. If a purse bid is necessary, the purse bid split will be 50/50.”

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Salido-Martinez possible for March

Roman Martinez vs Orlando SalidoBy Dan Ambrose: A third fight between WBO super featherweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez (29-2-3, 17 KOs) and 35-year-old Orlando Salido (42-13-3, 29 KOs) is still possible for March despite the fact that the World Boxing Organization has ordered Martinez to fight #1 WBO mandatory challenger Miguel Berchelt (28-1, 25 KOs) next.

According to Dan Rafael, Berchelt could step aside so that Martinez and Salido could fight each other once again.

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Luis Ortiz – Bryant Jennings averages 616K viewers on HBO

Image: Luis Ortiz - Bryant Jennings averages 616K viewers on HBO(Photo Credit: Alex Menendez – HoganPhotos/Golden Boy Promotions) By Dan Ambrose: WBA interim heavyweight champion Luis Ortiz’s title defense against Bryant Jennings (19-2, 10 KOs) last Saturday night averaged 616,000 viewers on HBO with peak of 735,000 viewers in their fight at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York.

It’s not surprising that the Ortiz-Jennings fight failed to bring in terrific ratings because Ortiz isn’t a well-known heavyweight with the casual boxing fans, and Jennings is pretty much in the same boat. The Ortzi-Jennings fight was televised on HBO Boxing After Dark. It was a good back and forth fight that ended in the 7th round with the 36-year-old Ortiz knocking the weaker-punching Jennings down.

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Luis Ortiz would KO Deontay Wilder, says Lederman

Image: Luis Ortiz would KO Deontay Wilder, says Lederman(Photo Credit: Alex Menendez – HoganPhotos/Golden Boy Promotions) By Scott Gilfoid: Long time HBO unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman believes that the 6’4” interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) would knockout the talented 6’7” WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) if the two of these giant heavyweights wind up facing each other in the near future.

Lederman is high on both of them, but he thinks the southpaw Ortiz would have the upper on the younger 30-year-old Wilder if the two of them fought right now.

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