On February 17th, former welterweight champions Victor Ortiz and Devon Alexander will collide in a crossroads fight in a main event bout, as part of a Premier Boxing Champions card on FOX.
The event will be held at the Don Haskins Center on the UTEP campus in El Paso, Texas with televised coverage starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
Ortiz (32-6-2, 25 KOs), 30-years-old, has not been very active over the last few years. He suffered a knockout loss to Andre Berto in 2016 on FOX and bounced back with a knockout victory over Saul Corral in his last fight on July 30 on FS1.
Alexander (27-4, 14 KOs), 30-years-old, has also been very inactive and is finally returning to the sport after beating an addiction to painkillers.
Healthy for the first time in three years, Alexander returned to the ring with a unanimous decision victory over Walter Castillo on FS1 on November 21.
Alexander is looking to put on a pure clinic when he faces Ortiz.
"The prediction is that it’s going to be a masterclass and if it goes seven rounds, I’ll be surprised. My power and my speed if going to be there and if he can withstand the power, I’ll be surprised," Alexander told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
Based on some of Ortiz's past performances in the ring, Alexander believes that his attributes - like speed - are going to be a big factor in the fight.
"I don’t want to share the gameplan but my thing is, I want to stick to what got me there. Speed and skill are hard to beat and we saw what happened when Victor Ortiz fought a skillful fighter in Floyd – Victor got frustrated and tried to headbutt Floyd," Alexander said.
"Speed and quickness and movement is going to kill Victor Ortiz, and that’s what we’re planning on doing. I don’t want to tell you the gameplan because he may be listening, but it’s going to be an exceptional performance."
