Following his win over former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin, the IBF immediately ordered Luis “King Kong” Ortiz to fight Filip Hrgovic in a final heavyweight eliminator. Ortiz, however, is reportedly rejecting that fight. Ortiz’s manager Jay Jiménez told the Miami Nuevo Herald that Ortiz has a minimal fracture to his left hand and he won’t be ready by the March/April time frame Hrgovic and the IBF want. The IBF will now go down their ratings and select the next available contender (Joseph Parker and Tony Yoka being the next two) to face Hrgovic.
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great, Hrgovic vs Parker or Yoka
both good fights. lets see one.
(kind of doubt it )
I don’t get the anti-Hrgovic sentiment so many others are expressing. I think he’s pretty damn good. He’s a little robotic, but a lot of European fighters are and that hasn’t handicapped their success. Parker looked good in his last outing and Yoka has a lot of raw talent. It would be hard not to watch any of those fights. I actually think Yoka and Parker might be more difficult fights than Ortiz at this point for Hrgovic.
I didn’t realize Ortiz would have to fight in another eliminator. That would be a huge step up in competition for Hrgovic. Interesting fight if and when it happens…
Honestly Ortiz looked shot against Martin-One sign of boxers who are finished is the ease with which they get knocked down—Also while he hurt Martin at the end he was unable to land sharp clean shots to finish him-I’ve always liked Ortiz but I think he’s at the end.
Hrgovic is not a bad fighter, but rather a bad opponent, because he doesn’t bring anything attractive to the table, no money, no title, just a big risk. Who wants to face him for a chance to be a mandatory in the IBF and get just enough money to buy a case of beers and a combo?
For the next two years maybe, the HW big fights and furthermore big paydays will be taking turn among Fury, Joshua, Usyk and probably Dubois and Joyce. No point to risk a chance to be in the mix.
The biggest fight in Boxing is still Wilder-Joshua.
For big paydays, Wilder gets the most interest and sells the most tickets out of these guys.
I’m pretty sure Joshua wants no part of Wilder.
NJ Boxing
No disrespect, but you must be from America.
Wilder couldn’t fill up a Telephone Box, out of all his fights, only 3 were sellout because of all the Fury fans.
AJ and Fury put all the bums on seats worldwide.
“NJ Boxing
No disrespect, but you must be from America.”
– “NJ” = New Jersey
You mean AJ sells the tickets?
Wilder a poor ticket seller historically.
Dubois?? You must be from Europe
Hrgovic is the future and Ortiz knows it.
Do not like the way Hrgovic continually aims punches to the back of his opponent’s head.
Yes, that’s true! He is a bit robotics sometimes, and a good smart boxer could time him the same way Rosado did to Bektemir Melikuziev, but nonetheless Hrgovic is a formidable opponent for any top heavyweight
Exactly the reason no one wants to fight him. Getting hit in the nuts hurts, but getting hit at the base of the skull, where Hrgovic aims, can be fatal. And for some reason he hardly ever gets even a warning for what certainly appears intentional.
Until he changes this tactic, it’s hard to imagine anyone lining up to fight him.
Ortiz deserve more respect than to have to prove himself against a beginner like Hrgovic for a shot at the title. Thats worst than Sean Porter needing to prove himself against Victor Ortiz jr. to get a shot at Crawford. That wouldnt fly!
King Kong is already deserving as a top heavyweight only losing to Wilder, when he was knocking out everybody.
Cuban boxers prob get the worst treatment in this sport.
Obviously, guys like Hrgovic will get the best favors.
NJ___ the wost case that I know of a cuban boxer being unfairly treated is Jose “mantequilla” Napoles, who was a lightweight and tired of being avoided had to go up to welterweight to get a title shot against Curtis Cokes, when Napoles at 29 was past his primes with more than 60 fights.
Other than size and strength, I haven’t been too impressed with Hrgovic. With that said, that might be enough. I’d love to see him fight any of the names mentioned in this article. I’d favor all of them against Hrgovic, but would gladly eat my words if he wins.
Ortiz: a few years back I thought he’d emerge as the cream of this crop. Fury was retired and gone, Joshua looked great physically, but felt more myth than legend to me and Wilder had flaws that seemed glaringly obvious. Of course, flaws not withstanding, Wilder’s power proved more king than King Kong not once, but twice and I had to give him his due. With that said, Ortiz is still a legit contender, but the clock definitely is against him. Hands break in boxing, but rarely do they stay mended for the rest of that fighter’s career. Add in natural age degeneration and Ortiz (and probably Wilder too at this point) has a real problem. If he could fight Fury or the winner of Usyk/AJ rematch next, I’d say cash whatever check they give you and give it one last shot. However, as someone noted above, that seems extremely unlikely. His win against Martin isn’t the worst option to be his final fight.
I don’t understand Ortiz. He has had precious few fights in recent years and should he beat Filip, he is in line for another title fight. Yes, he may be injured so put the fight a month or two.
Nobody can call Ortiz stupid.
That’s a smart move by the Cuban as he would have likely gotten beaten by the Croatian, and even a rare win would have netted him nothing. Besides, there’s no way Ortiz would ever beat Joshua or Usyk to win the IBF title so he needs to concentrate on the biggest money fights he can land at his age.
um, ya…. Martin turned backwards when he missed his right hand…so he is a nub. Joe Joyce makes him cream his diaper too..Hirgovich is as bad ars as Joyce.
Ortiz got dropped by a Martin jabb..LMao
Ortiz could fight Danny Williams
Ortiz should fight Chisora, now that would be a great match up.
I would lean more towards Chisora since he is way more experienced and has shown more heart and determination in his last 3 fights against much better competition.
Paul, I love the idea of Chisora vs Ortiz, but I love just about every fight Chisora is in.
With that said, I’d love to see Chisora call it a day. Even in the (one punch can change your life) Heavyweight Division I feel Chisora has found his ceiling and is starting to take way too much punishment. My one complaint about Joseph Parker has been that he’s been a little too passive. That was not the case against Chisora in their last fight. Parker was going for the kill and only a few Heavyweights could have withstood those punches. Chisora did, but really shouldn’t have.
Ortiz might have one last run in him, but his performance against Martin suggests otherwise. Maybe he took him too lightly and would be a different animal next time out, but I think he’s likely going to fall short against a true top 5 guy at this point. Positive drug tests, poor promotional choices or just being a bad ass Southpaw have done their worst to his career and it looks like the clock has almost struck Midnight.
Chisora is done.