on a 1-5 scale...how good of an opponent is current ortiz?

[New England]

yoiu will not know beforehand. ortiz is aging and fighters don't age in a straight line! sometimes they literally look older in the second half of a fight than they do in the first. they can get old overnight!

ortiz claims to be 38, but do you really believe him? ihave doubts to say the least! he only fought once in '17 and the fight was basically over in the first round! and against a journeyman with 20 fights. that's really not enough to shake off the rust and help you get sharp enough to jump right in against an undefeated guy with range, speed, and power.


i'm picking ortiz to beat wilder, but i'm not going to tell you how good he is going to do against wilder with a ton of confidence because of the issues i see, which i just laid out for you. if wilder does beat him convincingly it will be without a doubt his best win and one of the better wins at HW in a while.

if he blows him out of hte water without any real fuss i think joshua and the rest of the division should start to worry a bit. i've been sold on wilder's power and athletic talent. the guy is fast, long as hell, and he can punch. i'm not sold on his boxing skills and how well he'll deal with ortiz, who in addition to being a big puncher is left handed and who has skills. i don't expect wilder to have the kind of dimension it takes to dominate ortiz with physical talent, and because of that i think he will lose.


ortiz KO in 5-8 rounds. maybe 4. i do not expect wilder to finish the fight, and i'll be impressed if he does.

[-GDS-]

That will be decided retro-actively of course.

[paulf]

5 if Joshua were facing him.

3 since its Wilder.

[Tom Cruise]

Ill give him a 3.5, maybe a 3 in retrospect if he really does look old in the ring

Its a better than average opponent. But its not a champion (real champ not belt holder champ) or a seriously battle tested contender which might get you into the 4's

For a 5 you need to be looking across the ring at a legend in his prime.

[davef]

Yea 3 or 3.5 he will still be wilders best opponent tho I guess a bit similar to the Joshua version of Wlad

Hes old af maybe he was a 4 back in 2015 but after his world tour of Hearns corpses it really showed a decline

[dan_cov]

God knows at this rate Ortiz might not even be able to walk to the ring unaided.

Even though he's old and definitely on the decline we still haven't a great idea how good he actually is. We seen some real quality vs Jennings but not a great deal since.
There are still a lot of question marks on him and more so with his age, recent performances and health issues.

I'll say a 3.5 on the basis he's definitely a step up, he's big, he counters well, powerful, quite light on his feet for such a lump when he wants to be.

[davef]

God knows at this rate Ortiz might not even be able to walk to the ring unaided.

[CubanGuyNYC]

yoiu will not know beforehand. ortiz is aging and fighters don't age in a straight line! sometimes they literally look older in the second half of a fight than they do in the first. they can get old overnight!

ortiz claims to be 38, but do you really believe him? ihave doubts to say the least! he only fought once in '17 and the fight was basically over in the first round! and against a journeyman with 20 fights. that's really not enough to shake off the rust and help you get sharp enough to jump right in against an undefeated guy with range, speed, and power.


i'm picking ortiz to beat wilder, but i'm not going to tell you how good he is going to do against wilder with a ton of confidence because of the issues i see, which i just laid out for you. if wilder does beat him convincingly it will be without a doubt his best win and one of the better wins at HW in a while.

if he blows him out of hte water without any real fuss i think joshua and the rest of the division should start to worry a bit. i've been sold on wilder's power and athletic talent. the guy is fast, long as hell, and he can punch. i'm not sold on his boxing skills and how well he'll deal with ortiz, who in addition to being a big puncher is left handed and who has skills. i don't expect wilder to have the kind of dimension it takes to dominate ortiz with physical talent, and because of that i think he will lose.


ortiz KO in 5-8 rounds. maybe 4. i do not expect wilder to finish the fight, and i'll be impressed if he does.

I’m rather shocked at this post, but I hope you’re right. I’m thinking Wilder will be a little too much for Ortiz, where Luis is in his career. And “a little too much” with these dudes, and with Deontay’s power, means KO.

I agree that older fighters like Ortiz can show their age from one fight to the next. With his inactivity, there’s even more to worry about. Wilder is unusually athletic for a heavyweight. It’ll take all of Luis’s skill to make up for that. Not sure it’ll be enough.

In the end, I’m glad a Cuban is getting a shot at the biggest title in boxing. And as a boxing fan in general, I’m happy there’s a solid heavyweight matchup about to see daylight.

[CubanGuyNYC]

God knows at this rate Ortiz might not even be able to walk to the ring unaided.

Even though he's old and definitely on the decline we still haven't a great idea how good he actually is. We seen some real quality vs Jennings but not a great deal since.
There are still a lot of question marks on him and more so with his age, recent performances and health issues.

I'll say a 3.5 on the basis he's definitely a step up, he's big, he counters well, powerful, quite light on his feet for such a lump when he wants to be.

I agree, Dan — 3.5. And, yes, I’ve seen that guy Ortiz move deceptively well. He’s kinda like a bear. All soft looking, but he can be on top of you right quick.

[Larry the boss]

He is the #5 heavyweight according to the Ring and is undefeated with 28 wins and 24 ko's...So i would say he is a pretty solid opponent