Next For Luis Ortiz?

[wesshaw1985]

who next for "The Real King Kong?"

[Boxing Writer]

I'd like to see him vs Povetkin, but lets look at things realistically (BoxRec top-20):

1-2. Fury and Wlad are fighting each other in rematch on May or June
3. Povetkin hopefully gets his well deserved title shot against Wilder sometimes in May
4. Wilder is fighting Szpilka and (hopefully) Povetkin after that and he is Haymon's/Showtime fighter, which means his fight with Ortiz who works with GBP and HBO almost impossible to make anyway
5. Pulev - one of the few realistic options
6. Glazkov is fighting Martin and if he wins, I don't think his team will risk his title against such a dangerous opponent. They will be looking to big money unification fight against Fury/Wlad winner
8. Malic Scott - I don't think HBO will be interested in that fight
9. Erkan Teper reportedly got caught using PED's, so he is out of the picture for the near future
10. Antonio Tarver was caught using PED's for the second time in the last 3 years. His career might be over
11. Joseph Parker isn't ready for Ortiz yet and his team knows it
12. Steve Cunningham is reportedly back at Cruiserweight division where he will face Glowazcki for WBO title in February 2016
13. Carlos Takam - another realistic option
14. Chagaev is fighting Browne on March 5
15. Tony Thompson is old, shot and lost his last fight to Malic Scott
16. Joshua is the same as Parker - he isn't ready for Ortiz
17. Stiverne - pretty good option, but it looks like he works with Haymon now
18. Chisora - I think Derek gets more money fighting Joshua for British title, really. Plus I'm not sure if HBO will approve him as an opponent for Ortiz
19. Szpilka is fighting Wilder
20. Adamek - I hope not. He can get hurt really bad against Ortiz. I think this fight won't be approved anyway, cause everybody knows it's a complete mismatch

As for the guys outside of BoxRec top-20, I think there are some options too - Andy Ruiz, Helenius, Ustinov and Briggs. The latter two are less likely in my opinion. As for Haye, I think he will stay away form Ortiz as far as possible.

I think the most realistic opponent for Ortiz is Andy Ruiz. He is Top Rank fighter, and Top Rank works with HBO and GBP (now) closely. Plus he has crowd-pleasing style and has decent fan-base among Latinos boxing fans in USA. Other realistic options, in my opinion, are Pulev and Takam. Less likely but still possible are Ustinov and Helenius

[PredatorHayds]

Agreed.
Ruiz looks most likely.
I think Malik Scott is also one they will look at.

[iamasadlittleboy]

I'd like to see him in with the Chagaev/Browne winner, but that won't be next

[jujigatame]

Scott seems like a reasonable fight. The Glazkov/Martin winner could also work.

[jockpunk]

Going to be tough for him to find a decent opponent. Alot of the up and comer types are with haymon and most guys just have better options than fighting a guy like ortiz who probably isn't going to bring big money. Maybe Glazkov would fight him if he beats Martin, but I suspect he will look for some easy defenses although I think IBF rules will force him to fight a mandatory since it is for a vacant belt.

Top Rank doesn't seem too interested in putting andy ruiz in with anybody good.

Maybe helenius would fight him. Before his hiatus he seeemd willing to fight somewhat decent guys.

[zorndeslammes]

Malik Scott would be the best option for myriad reasons from my perspective. My expectation is that HBO approves someone closer to a softball like present day Mike Perez, Shannon Briggs, etc.

[Tony1244]

I voted for Pulev. Stiverne doesn't fight and many of the others have fight dates.

[Chepppaaa]

wilder

[tiny_acres]

A stay busy fight against a no one.And then the winner of Chagaev vs Brown fight for the regular wba

[Evander]

To build the division up I'd have him box a couple of medium level combined opponents, but not to the point he'll slack off and get lazy ... 1st fight a showcase easy one the 2nd fight a tester.

[closer]

Stiverne's already turned down a fight v Ortiz

[Evander]

Ortiz is big and fat ... he looks like Foreman.

[Gnome]

Arreola/Kauffman?

[Bard of Boxrec]

A stay busy fight against a no one.And then the winner of Chagaev vs Brown fight for the regular wba

I wouldn't mind this.

Looking at that list of top heavyweights, it just seems so wrong that Haymon's shitty politics can infect this division in particular. Like, ANY other division but this one for me. :(

[Badhusker]

I chose Teper. Battle of the juicers.

[Ilya Muromets]

I chose Teper. Battle of the juicers.

Yeah, Ortiz was suspended for drug use last year. He strongly denied using drugs - and they didn't even charge Teper until five months after his fight. Not sure what's going on here and how accurate those tests are and why some boxers who I am quite sure are using drugs are never charged. I know that boxing is so f'g crooked...

[Cap]

If you're asking who is he most likely to fight next, I'd probably say Carlos Takam or someone like him. Who I'd like to see him fight is another question entirely.

[sweetviolenturge]

I'd like to see his people keep him as busy as possible. They should take as many dates as HBO will give them.
They'd be smart to do so & take advantage of a all the attention & good press that his KO of Jennings has garnered.
And at this point, I don't think the opponents are quite that important yet. Not as long as they're not complete garbage. Which HBO's quality control would likely prevent anyhow.
Arreola would be good enough & "The Real King Kong" would look blowing him out in two or three rounds, but I think he might be tied down to Haymon. So, maybe someone like the unbeaten Gerald Washington, Trevor Bryan? Pulev, Takam or Briggs maybe. Hard to believe, but ol' Shannon is rated at #4 by the 'BA.

[sweetviolenturge]

Ridiculously, rated right behind #4 Briggs is #5 Fres Oquendo & while I'd love to see Ortiz belt him out & finally put his career out of it's misery, I REALLY doubt whether HBO would allow him on their network. Highly doubtful. Which is def a good thing ( & no, I don't actually want to see him fight Ortiz, I just wish he'd hang 'em up already ).
Another guy that might be an OK possibility though is Fedosov.
He's won several in a row & looked decent in winning that ESPN tourney, so why not?
He's not a real threat, but he'd be a live body good for a couple/few rounds.
Then, maybe put the game, entertaining Eric Molina in against another rated heavy & give the winner a crack at Ortiz. That would be a good comparison fight to see if Ortiz could take Molina out in quicker, more impressive fashion than did Wilder.
In fact, Molina would be a great HBO debut opponent for either Joseph Parker or Andy Ruiz. On an Ortiz undercard perhaps.
Although doubt seriously whether Parker's people would want a win to lead straight into an Ortiz fight. Likely a year or so too soon.
Who knows about Ruiz? Though his people seem to be feeding him soft touches at the moment.

[lowlefthand]

Stiverne's already turned down a fight v Ortiz

Stiverne and his trainer were dead keen on the fight. King blocked it - the contracts were all drawn-up and he went missing;

"Don King refused to sign the contract for Stiverne-Oritz and right now we don't have an offer on the table," said a frustrated Camille Estephan, the head of Eye of the Tiger Management, which handles Stiverne.
King promotes Stiverne, who lost his heavyweight title to Deontay Wilder in January and hasn't fought since.
"We don't have anything on the table and we're in waiting mode. It's horrible because Bermane's been training since March, he's ready and revving to go and we have no fight," continued Estephan, who added that while the fights not completely dead, stated bluntly - ''I'm not very hopeful."
Stiverne has a record of 24-2-1 (21 KO's). He won the WBC belt in May of 2014 by stopping Chris Arreola in six rounds at the Galen Center on the campus of USC before getting beat by Wilder in his lone title defense. What's really problematic for Stiverne is that he's 36 years old.
Estephan stated,"I'm extremely disappointed, I'm very concerned for Stiverne's career."
http://www.BS.com/stiverne-ort ... off--95197

[jujigatame]

Why would anyone sign for Don King these days? How many careers have to be ruined before these guys wake the fornicate up?

[PredatorHayds]

Why would anyone sign for Don King these days? How many careers have to be ruined before these guys wake the eff up?

The richest person in boxing is the person who makes the little flags that he waves around before every fight.

[funso banjo baby]

Povetkin for me. he was the standout number 1 before the klit/fury fight.

Malik Scott needs to go some way to prove he wont just dive again if the money is right. circus freak

some others fights might be more exciting then Povetkin but im a purist. id like to see fighters earn genuine contention status rather than merely getting chances after one big win only. you know, the old number 1 fights number 2 scenario that we used to have in the steam age?

[badkatt]

ortiz needs another name on his resume and i think chris areolla is on the decline bigtime ,he would be a good name on the real king kongs resume or malik scott who cant even take a punch