Luis Ortiz: record, next fight and profile →
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.
The fight is a done deal. BoxingScene.com has been advised that a press conference has been scheduled for Wednesday in New York City, to officially announce the November 4th showdown between WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) and undefeated contender Luis Ortiz (27-0, 23 KOs). The fight has been set down for November 4th, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Showtime will televise the contest.
Now that the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz heavyweight title fight is essentially a done deal, BoxingScene.com has learned Showtime is in the process of finalizing a tripleheader for November 4 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The heavyweight division heats up this fall as all three champions are scheduled to return to the ring. WBO champion Joseph Parker (23-0) is less than three weeks away from defending his title against his mandatory challenger Hughie Fury (20-0). The action takes places at the Manchester Arena in the United Kingdom on September 23rd.
In a recent interview on BoxingScene.com, Luis Ortiz' manager indicated that WBA, IBF, IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs) had until September 3 to agree to fight or face the possibility of getting stripped of the WBA belt. Ortiz is the mandatory challenger to Joshua's WBA title.
IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is ready and willing to fight winner of the potential showdown between WBC champion Deontay Wilder and undefeated challenger Luis Ortiz, according to the unified champion's promoter Eddie Hearn.
Recent reports have suggested that top heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz has opted to face WBC champion Deontay Wilder and drop his status as the mandatory challenger to WBA/IBF/IBO champion Anthony Joshua. Kubrat Pulev is Joshua's IBF mandatory but Ortiz believes his WBA mandatory position has priority over Pulev's status. It also has been recently reported that he would need at least 3-4 months to prepare for Joshua.
Yesterday in an article on BoxingScene.com, WBA, IBF, IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua said that he has no problems facing his WBA mandatory Luis Ortiz - but only after he faces his IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev. Ortiz's team has been pushing for the fight against Joshua, insisting that the WBA guaranteed them that they were next after stepping aside to allow Wladimir Klitschko to face Anthony Joshua in April.
Anthony Joshua wants his next fight to be staged at Cardiff's Principality Stadium despite the prospect of facing Kubrat Pulev in Las Vegas. The WBA, IBO and IBF heavyweight champion's next title defence is to be announced imminently, with only the location and date to be decided between Cardiff on October 28 - the favourite - or Vegas' T-Mobile Arena on November 11.
Deontay Wilder is holding out hope that a fight against Luis Ortiz can be finalized for November 4. His handlers are working to arrange an optional defense of his WBC heavyweight title against Ortiz for that night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. An agreement cannot be completed, however, until the WBC reaches a resolution with former champion Bermane Stiverne, the mandatory challenger for Wilder’s title.