Luis Ortiz looking to finish off Deontay Wilder this time
Luis Ortiz thought he was on his way to becoming the first Cuban to win a world heavyweight championship. Deontay Wilder was dazed, his legs were wobbly, his body was starting to wilt under the relentless thunder of punches Ortiz was delivering.
It was the seventh round of their heavyweight championship fight March 3, 2018, at Barclays Center. Wilder, the defending WBC champion, looked ready to succumb to the challenger nicknamed King Kong.
“As soon as I made the connection and hurt him and I knew I was going to finish him and that the fight was basically over,” Ortiz said recently. “I haven’t had a situation like that where I hadn’t gotten a knockout in a scenario like that.”
Wilder somehow survived the round and went on to retain the title by stopping a punch-weary Ortiz in a dramatic 10th round. The two will stage a rematch Nov. 23 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The bout will take place along with Leo Santa Cruz fighting Miguel Flores for the WBA super featherweight title as part of a Fox Sports PBC pay-per-view event.
“When we were in the ring the first time he hit me with everything in the kitchen sink, stuff that he knows that he usually hits opponents with and they go down,” said Wilder, who will be making his 10th title defense. “That seventh round allowed me to see what I’m really made of. It allowed the world to see what type of champion they have in America.”
Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) showed he had a chin that night and Ortiz realized he needed to be in better condition to avoid punching himself out like he did in that seventh round. In winning three fights, Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs) has dedicated himself to a better diet and a conditioning program. For this fight, he moved his training camp from his home area in Florida to Las Vegas where he has spent the past 12 weeks away from his family.
“It’s never been about weight loss,” Ortiz said. “I have always fought around the same weight, but I’m definitely losing fat and transferring to muscle. It was a conscious decision and it’s been very productive. I got a new look at some of the stuff that being done with fighters. Obviously, sometimes it can be the same thing, but just approached differently and the body will react better.”
This has been a bittersweet year for the heavyweight division. Anticipation was that Wilder would face either lineal champ Tyson Fury or former unified champion Anthony Joshua this year. But Joshua lost his belts last June in a huge upset to Andy Ruiz Jr. at Madison Square Garden, while Fury has had two non-title fights with nondescript opponents in Las Vegas.
That has left Wilder-Ortiz II as the only credible option with Joshua and Ruiz set for a rematch in December.
“It’s the heavy hitters where one hit can end everything no matter how hard a person has worked, no matter how many weeks, how many months,” Wilder said. “One fight, one night, one blow can end it all.”
Aside from moving his training camp to Las Vegas and being in better condition, Ortiz doesn’t think he has to make any strategic changes for the fight. He would like the referee to keep a closer eye on Wilder.
“I think some of the things that Wilder did and the antics that Wilder does could be dealt with differently this time around, the illegal things,” Ortiz said. “Blows that he throws with the inside of his fists, punching down from the top of the head and all kinds of craziness that he does.”
Ortiz vows he’ll finish the job this time if he hurts Wilder again.
“It’s just a matter of putting some punches together and winning this fight,” he said. “One thing for sure is that both mentally and physically I’m at my best and prepared.”
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