Exciting heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz is back in action this Saturday night, when he faces former world title challenger Christian Hammer in a 10-round contest at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
In the main event, Ortiz's countryman and former world champion Erislandy Lara will collide with WBA "regular" junior middleweight champion Brian Castano.
Ortiz is hoping to position himself for another world title shot in the coming months.
Ortiz wants a rematch of his March 2018 clash with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.
That bout saw Ortiz badly hurt Wilder in the seventh round. The champion recovered and knocked out Ortiz in the tenth.
Wilder is back in the ring on May 18th. No opponent has been finalized, with Dominic Breazeale being the frontrunner to land the bout.
Hammer is usually a very durable fighter, but Ortiz aims to knock him out.
"I want to be world champion. I'm going to go in there on Saturday and put on a performance that gets me another shot at the title. I've been preparing to be explosive on Saturday night," Ortiz said.
"I have a very strong and durable opponent. I know he can go 12 rounds with a top fighter like he did with Alexander Povetkin, so we're not taking any chances. I'm not Povetkin though. So he's not going the distance with me. Our strategy going into a fight is always the same. Get into the best shape, do our job and when the knockout comes, blast him through the ring.
"Whoever they put in front of me, I'm going to go in there and try to knock them out. I'm not going to change for anyone. If fighters avoid me, there's nothing I can do about it. If there is a chance to rematch Deontay Wilder, that's the fight I want. That's the fight to make. I want to give the fans the fights they want."
