Former world champion and Sky Sports analyst Johnny Nelson says WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) did the right thing for his career by agreeing to defend his title against dangerous Cuban puncher Luis Ortiz (27-0, 23 KOs).
The fight was finalized for November 4th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The contest will be announced on Wednesday at a press conference in New York City.
Ortiz has been widely avoided by a vast majority of the boxers in his weight class.
In the opinion of Nelson, Wilder has been playing it safe since capturing the title from Bermane Stiverne in January 2015.
To accept a fight like Ortiz, Nelson now has a new respect for Wilder as a fighter.
"Deontay Wilder has gone up in my estimation massively, agreeing to fight Luis Ortiz. He needed a fight that gave him recognition and respect, and this is exactly that. Wilder needs to take a superstar risk and this will give him huge kudos," Nelson told Sky Sports.
"Everybody in the heavyweight division has avoided Ortiz like the plague, simply because they don't need him. The guy can punch, he can bang and he is dangerous. For Wilder to take him, you've got to rate him. Ortiz is dangerous, regardless of what we saw from him against Malik Scott in Monte Carlo. The 'Bronze Bomber' really needs a defining fight.
He feels Wilder was motivated to take a big risk after sitting ringside as Anthony Joshua got off the floor to score a knockout win over Wladimir Klitschko to unify the IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight titles.
Nelson was not too impressed after watching Ortiz take on Malik Scott last year,but he believes styles make fights and Scott's style was all wrong for Wilder.
"I think he has leveled off since winning the WBC title from Bermane Stiverne. People forget this will be his sixth defense but every time I've seen him, he seems to be playing safe. I get that mentality but he needs to up his game against Ortiz, if he wants to become a real superstar. Boxing stars stay safe, boxing superstars take chances. I am sure Wilder realised that when he was ringside for Anthony Joshua taking on Wladimir Klitschko," Nelson said.
"When we saw Ortiz in Monte Carlo he came across as lazy and didn't match anyone's expectations. He was nothing like the top Cuban we were told and all of a sudden, I didn't see any reason for Joshua to fight him.
But maybe Ortiz's performance was so bad because he was up against Malik Scott and didn't up his game at all. But he is still dangerous and I can see Wilder finally just going gung-ho, going out there and sending a warning out to Joshua. As it stands Ortiz is still the biggest threat to 'AJ' and Wilder looks beatable, but he has a great chance to change all that."
