Luis Ortiz believes he still has enough fight left in him to make history for his boxing-rich nation.
The career-long desire to become Cuba’s first-ever heavyweight champion remains a focal point for the 43-year-old southpaw, who has twice tried and failed to achieve that dream. His 2022 campaign has been dedicated to positioning himself for a third shot at boxing’s most storied prize, the latest step coming against Andy Ruiz (34-2, 22KOs) who will forever remain the first-ever Mexican boxer to win a heavyweight title.
“This is a fight that everybody has wanted, two heavyweight warriors who are ready to fight,” Ortiz told BoxingScene.com. “We’ve wanted this fight for a long time and had to go chase after it to make it happen. But we’re here now and ready.”
The bout—which serves as a scheduled 12-round WBC semifinal eliminator—headlines a Fox Sports Pay-Per-View (Sunday, 9:00 p.m. ET, $74.95) airing live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The winner will advance in the rankings and inch one step closer to challenging for the WBC title currently held by England’s Tyson Fury (32-0-1, 23KOs).
Ortiz (33-2, 28KOs; 2NC) fought on this very medium in his last outing, an off-the-canvas, sixth-round knockout of Charles Martin (28-3-1, 25KOs) in their IBF semifinal eliminator barely 30 minutes from his Miami hometown on New Year’s Day in Hollywood, Florida. The fight came in lieu of a hoped-for showdown with California’s Ruiz, whom Ortiz was once poised to face in 2020. The pandemic shut down those plans, with the rest of his time spent chasing after the former unified heavyweight titlist.
The targeted spring 2020 timeframe would have marked the first appearance for Ruiz and Ortiz since coming up short in separate title fights.
Ruiz saw his WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight title reign end in December 2019, losing to England’s Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22KOs). The fight came just six months after Ruiz forever etched his name in Mexican boxing history after rising from the canvas to floor then-undefeated Joshua four times en route to a seventh-round stoppage in their iconic June 2019 clash at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Ortiz was coming off a repeat defeat to then-unbeaten WBC heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder (42-2-1, 41KOs), suffering a one-punch knockout in the seventh round after winning virtually every round to that point. The loss snapped a three-fight win streak after losing to Wilder in a March 2018 fight that was up for grabs on the scorecards until the Cuban southpaw was dropped and stopped in the tenth round at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The losses to Wilder were disappointing, though twice illustrating just how close Ortiz came to making history for Cuba. Both setbacks only further drove his determination, to the point where he willingly ran in the direction of a dangerous opponent like Ruiz if it meant lining up a third title shot.
Ortiz was in attendance for Ruiz’s lone fight following his short-lived title reign, rising from the canvas to outpoint former title challenger Chris Arreola last May 1 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Ortiz was six months removed from a first-round knockout win and made the cross-country trip for no other reason than to line up his next opportunity.
“I would love nothing more than to prove I’m the best Latin heavyweight in the business,” Ortiz told BoxingScene.com at the time.
Despite assurances at the time that Ortiz would land the Ruiz-Arreola winner, he was instead met with an empty 2021 campaign—and just 45 second worth of ring action in total since the pandemic. In lieu of a showdown with Ruiz, Ortiz gladly accepted a New Year’s Day clash with Martin. The rare battle of heavyweight southpaws saw Ortiz suffer two knockdowns before rallying back to drop and stop the former IBF heavyweight titlist in the sixth round.
The win was enough to advance Ortiz in the IBF rankings at a time when the sanctioning body was prepared to order a final elimination bout with Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic on the other end. However, it was taxing enough to where Ortiz suffered a hand fracture requiring surgery and leaving him unable to honor the IBF’s timetable for such a fight.
Once healed up, Ortiz went back on the hunt for a fight with Ruiz. The two agreed to terms, though with an exception. A targeted July 16 showdown was met with resistance by Ruiz, who informed PBC of needing at least one more month to prepare for such a fight. The request was honored, with the fight tabled—leaving Ruiz enough room to instead agree to face Tyrone Spong on a planned July show in Mexico City to have been carried on PPV by Triller Fight Club.
Ortiz and his team grew accustomed to being avoided but not in situations where there existed a paper trail. Ortiz rightly put his foot down, demanding that Ruiz honor their agreement as the fight is crucial to his mission of re-entering the title picture.
“Every fight is important—but this one, in particular, is crucial to my career,” Ortiz admitted. “Whoever wins on Sunday will go on to fight for the heavyweight championship.”
It won’t necessarily play out that easily. Sunday’s winner will not become the mandatory challenger, nor are any of the belts likely to be available for the victor to next contend for the division’s top prize. Fury is reportedly in talks with WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13KOs) for a fight that would crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the twenty-first century.
Such a fight, if it can be made, would likely take place in the first quarter of 2023—either just before or shortly after Ortiz’s 44th birthday next March. Despite being at an age where most fighters are done with the sport—or, the sport is done with them—the still relevant heavyweight contender is perfectly content with taking things one fight at a time and always with a long-term goal in mind.
“First thing is to beat Andy Ruiz (on Sunday),” noted Ortiz. “After that, however long it takes to get another world title shot, we will always be ready. I’m always in the gym, always training, always ready. I don’t pay any attention to people who (mock) my age. I feel better now than I did when I was 35 and 25. I’ll feel even better when I become world champion and won’t stop until I reach that goal.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
