On November 23rd, Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz will renew acquaintances at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight along with 3 supporting bouts will be distributed by FOX pay-per-view.
The fight will be a rematch of their March, 2018 bout that Wilder won by 10th round knockout. Wilder was in trouble in the 7th round was was nearly out on his feet before regaining his composure to stop Ortiz.
If Wilder emerges victorious in the second installment, a rematch against Tyson Fury is penciled in for late February in Las Vegas. The two giants fought to a split draw in December in Los Angeles.
Mayweather Promotions' CEO Leonard Ellerbe expects the Fury rematch to be much bigger than their first fight provide Wilder defeats Ortiz again.
"I am pretty confident that the February 22nd fight will take place if he can get past Ortiz. It is a massive fight. It definitely has all the makings to have a tremendous amount of success at both the box office and on pay-per-view," Ellerbe told BoxingScene.com.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who co-promotes Fury, recently told BoxingScene.com that he believes Wilder-Fury 2 can sell 2 million pay-per-view buys with the amount of exposure both fighters have received on FOX and ESPN. When told of Arum's bold prediction, Ellerbe didn't scoff at the lofty number.
"I agree with him. If Deontay can get past Ortiz I agree wholeheartedly with Bob. There is no ceiling on the amount of success that that pay-per-view can do. That is a massive pay-per-view that can go through the roof," Ellerbe stated.
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