By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Deontay Wilder wasn’t about to lie.
Even after thinking long and hard before deciding to give Luis Ortiz another chance, Wilder is concerned Ortiz could fail a pre-fight test for performance-enhancing drugs and force the cancelation of their fight for the second time in less than six months. Wilder-Ortiz, originally scheduled for November 4 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, is set for March 3 at Barclays Center.
Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs), the WBC heavyweight champion, and Ortiz (28-0, 24 KOs, 2 NC) were two of 21 Premier Boxing Champions fighters present Wednesday for Showtime’s “2018 Boxing Upfront,” during which the network unveiled its schedule through June 16.
“I can’t say that I haven’t thought about it and put it in the back of my mind,” Wilder told BoxingScene.com regarding another potential cancelation. “That is a concern of ours, you know. But it was a good sign to see him here today, because the first press conference, I already knew what he was doing.”
Wilder referred to Ortiz skipping the press conference September 20 to officially announce their November 4 bout. According to Ortiz, weather was the cause of him not making that trip from Miami to New York.
Regardless, a week later Ortiz was removed from the fight for violating the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association’s protocol for pre-fight PED testing. Ortiz failed to disclose that he was taking medication for high blood pressure medication and tested positive for two banned diuretics.
Ortiz, who tested positive for an anabolic steroid in September 2014 and subsequently was stripped of the WBA’s interim title, was replaced by former WBC champ Bermane Stiverne, Wilder’s mandatory challenger. Wilder knocked out Stiverne (25-3-1, 21 KOs), from whom Wilder won the title, in the first round November 4.
The WBC later ruled that Ortiz’s use of blood pressure medication was legitimate and kept him in its rankings. Wilder agreed to schedule another fight against him, despite that three Wilder opponents have failed PED tests since May 2016.
The 32-year-old Wilder, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, just hopes he gets the opportunity to test himself against Ortiz this time around. The Cuban southpaw is 38, yet widely viewed as Wilder’s best opponent since he won the title three years ago.
“Here we are again,” Wilder said. “Let’s make the fight happen. I don’t want nothing to stop this fight from happening. Hopefully, he don’t think about doing it a third time because he wasn’t good the first time, he damn sure wasn’t good the second time. So I hope he don’t think three times a charm this time. Because if he do, I want everybody in Miami to go whup his ass if he fails this one.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.