By Miguel Maravilla
Cuban heavyweight contender Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (31-1, 26 KO’s) will get another crack at a world title when he meets WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KO’s) in a rematch taking place November 23 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas live on FOX Sports Pay-Per-View.
“I”m happy and thank God for the rematch and I thank Wilder for having the balls to give me this rematch,” Ortiz told Fightnews.com®. “I’m excited about this fight. I’m going to make the most of it and I won’t let it slip away.”
Having met nearly over a year ago in a recent heavyweight classic, Ortiz hit the canvas in the fifth but the Cuban had his moment hurting Wilder and staggering him with the champ being saved by the bell. Unfortunately for Ortiz, Wilder was able to stop him in the tenth, giving Wilder his toughest fight to date.
“There are no excuses. The first fight is over. I’m focused now on this fight,” Ortiz said. “Wilder hasn’t forgotten about me. I’m not done and I will prove it. I want the knockout.”
Since suffering his defeat to Wilder, Ortiz has won three straight fights. Scoring a pair of knockouts over Razvan Cojanu and Travis Kauffman. Ortiz is coming off a unanimous decision over Christian Hammer as he looks to even the score with Wilder.
“The only thing that has changed is the desire to win and my rage,” Ortiz stated.
Since their fight, Wilder has fought twice as he fought Tyson Fury to draw in a wild one last November. In his last fight, Wilder scored a quick first round knockout over 2012 U.S. Olympian Dominic Breazeale this past May setting the stage for the rematch with Ortiz.
“He’s been doing what he has to do to win. I’m grateful for that because now I’m here for the rematch. I’ve trained very hard since my loss and it will all culminate on November 23,” Ortiz said.
There are already other plans for Ortiz opponent Wilder, to have another rematch with Tyson Fury, later next year. Ortiz, however, plans to derail the planned rematch between Wilder and Fury as he seeks revenge and looks to redeem himself. When asked what he thought about the Wilder-Fury plans, Ortiz responded.
“I’m not worried about that. I’m ready to be a champion and I want the knockout,” Ortiz said.
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This is a Dangerous Fight for Wilder!!
YUP, but he is a warrior, unlike Fury who fights journeyman and tomatoe cans
He soundly defeated the two-headed dragon Wladimir Klitschko and outboxed Wilder. Fury shows up on big fight night. So what if he is on cruise-control right now.
Wilder knocked him out too. Fury outboxed Wilder up until… BOOM!!! Fury fans are delusional and laced with excuses for Fury shortcomings. He’s failed you repeatedly and cant bare the pressure of serving as your Great White Hope
And you really don’t know shit !! A warrior who got one decent fighter on his record who was outboxing him after coming back from a 3 years layoff because of drug addiction and after just 2 fights against poor opposition !
THING IS I THINK THIS A DANGEROUS FIGHT FOR WILDER BUT I ALWAYS GO WITH THE CHAMP,… I THINK WILDER KNOCKS HIM OUT EARLIER THIS TIME… THIS FIGHT WILL NOT GO 10 ROUNDS… WILDER KNOCKS HIM OUT IN 9… AND THIS IS CHIPPERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Ortiz has been saying he’s ready to be champion for years now. Nothing new…… Let’s see you make it happen then!!!!
I dont see champions rushing to give him a shot neither. SMH
he got as his ass knocked out. He hardly deserves another chance
I hope Wilder’s desire to prove his point in knocking Ortiz earlier, won’t be the cause of his demise, as recently happened to Joshua. Carelessly and underestimation make miracles in favor of the underdog.If Wilder fights smart and patient, he should win inside 7 rounds.
wilder will knockout fury whithin four rounds. period.
I can’t stand Wilder. He’s embarrassing to listen to and has a very low IQ. That being said I unfortunately think he’s going to KO Ortiz again and early this time. Ortiz looks fat and out of shape. He’s known for some time this fight was going to happen and by the looks of it he just doesn’t care and hasn’t done anything to start getting in shape. HE DOES however have far superior boxing skills when compared to Wilder. But if you can’t take his punch then it doesn’t matter much, he will eventually land clean. Again, would love to see the upset but given Ortiz’s past few performances it doesn’t seem likely.
Just a quick note, can we keep the “low IQ” remarks out of this discussion? It’s inherently racist; I’m assuming it relates to his style of communication.
The guy has injected a lot of excitement into a limited pool of fighters, let’s just enjoy it.
Not trying to be a dick, your opinion isn’t outrageous, just loaded with potential racial overtones.
I agree, it is the Wilder haters way. They cant knock his fighting abilities so they do it another way
Dear god, it’s true. EVERYTHING is racist these days. Sad times. Also, Al Shrader, what fighting ability? All he has is power. If it weren’t for that he wouldn’t even be a name in the sport.
You are the only one relating low IQ to race here.
I agree the “low IQ” remark was unwarranted but to say it’s racist, you’re reaching a bit on that one.
If you think the term “Low IQ” has inherently racist, you’ve never been to a black barber shop to get faded. Just stay away.
Why racist. Low IQ usually means person sounds unintelligent(dumb, stupid, etc.), doesn’t really mean a person sounds black. Everybody gets butt hurt over the dumbest things these days.
I didn’t see anything indicating an action or behavior that substantiated a claim of low IQ. Someone commented that “if you’ve ever been to a black barber …”.
I haven’t. I’m white. I watch the fights with my black friends and neighbors but I’ve spent a long time listening to white guys laugh and talk about unintelligent black guys. “Low IQ” type remarks are pretty standard amongst people making racist remarks.
If I’ve overstepped I apologize but it’s a little dishonest to say that comments about intelligence aren’t the opening gambit of racists taking shit.
@Gregory,
How is it “inherently” racist? Anthony Joshua is black speaks and presents himself intelligently. Many trailer park white trash come off having a low IQ. Perhaps it is Wilder’s overall presentation (i.e., often he comes comes off as thugish). He may not really have a low IQ but his manner of speaking and words he chooses seems to indicate he is at least uneducated.
But now he is a multi-millionaire and world heavyweight champ. Stop speaking like a ghetto thug and present yourself properly, learn better grammar, and read some books for crying out loud.
These are not racist, just facts and observations. Low IQ and uneducated talk applies to all races.
@Gregory:
A remark about someone’s IQ – legitimate or not – has absolutely nothing to do with racism.
I like his alabama accent, and what does his IQ have to do with anything, this is boxing not chess.
Mark: I don’t think that anyone is actually bothered by Wilder’s low IQ, but who wants a champ who’s kinda dumb?
Not sure why this took so long to make after Wilder announced he’d fight Ortiz next just before AJ/Ruiz 1?
If the Fury Feb date is real it seems strange to have a bigger gap between Breazeale and Ortiz compared to Ortiz and Fury?
If Ruiz wins the rematch with AJ I reckon Wilder will bypass the Fury rematch.
If Fury fights DW in Feb, that eye is going to open right back up. I think DW should stay away and unify.
Strange I thought Wilder’s toughest fight to date was Fury and then Stiverne 1 followed by Ortiz in 3rd. Oh yeah it’s that Haymon in house only talk.
Gregory bloom are you that type where EVERYTHING is racist?
It inherently appears that way!
Toughest fight because it’s the only fight where he has been hurt.. He never looked in trouble against Fury and definitely not against Stiverne… The Ortiz fight was very close to being stopped in the 7th.. and he got the extra time starting the 8th.. I’d say toughest fight..
@ Marcos: thank you for explaining this simple fact to whoever doubted that the Ortiz fight was Wilder’s toughest fight – he was close to be KO’d. Ortiz is generally speaking a good finisher and certainly has enough KO power to knock any of the current HW out.
Wilder was completely outboxed for the majority of the fight. In the 7th Ortiz had him out on his feet and if it was not a PBC fight with a PBC champ the ref would have stopped it. Then he was gifted a break at the beginning of the 8th for no reason. Ortiz simply ran out of gas IMO. I would love to see Ortiz win but I am not banking on it.
If there ever existed a “live” underdog, The Real King Kong is it. he had Wilder in trouble until his exhaustion coupled with Wilder’s power finally got the best of him. I like Ortiz on his skill level, but come on dude failed 2 drug tests already. he really shouldn’t be fighting.
I would rank Ruiz number 1 fury number 2 and evgeny romanov number 3 since he already destroyed wilder easily.
Romanov is still relatively unknown (and untested) but possibly one his way to become an interesting contender in the division.
Unfortunately, Romanov is very small for a heavyweight. He can box and he has decent power, but only time will tell how far he can really go. He may be top 30 in the division at the moment.
For Deontay Wilder, Luis Ortiz is an expensive steak at a 5 star restaurant. Deontay is going to eat him up. Alive.
He needs to be at his best to defeat Wilder.
Man, Wilder wouldnt take a rematch unless he knew he would win easier. And Ortiz is older than he’s saying from what I hear. If thats true.. Ortiz looked slower and stiff the first time. Wilder Will have an even bigger advantage this time. Ortiz is only coming for the paycheck. Wilder by stoppage. Wilder is faster, hits harder, taller and much younger.. No chance Ortiz wins.
Cubans are lazy which is Ortiz’s downfall. They are used to not working hard so Ortiz just tries to rely on his talent alone which isn’t enough. Give a Cuban some money, they will work even less. Ortiz will get his pay day, lose and then he can go back to eating. Once he retires, he will probably balloon up to 350 lbs.
Ortiz has so much talent. He has the tools, but I see him as a guy who simply won’t go for it. He is a guy who is just happy to be getting another big payday, he doesn’t want to be champ.
Its overdue for Ortiz to fail a drug test isn’t it
You are a well schooled boxer Ortiz you got it you worked very hard for this second chance make this jock wish he had trained properly.