Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin | FOX PPV - January 1, 2022

[maverick23]

The greed of PBC is insane.

I really hope this does no business.

[Enlightened-One]

The greed of PBC is insane.

I really hope this does no business.

Even though I agree, I suspect Fox was involved in the decision to stage this event as a PPV.

They may even have the final say.

[adislav123]

Washington vs Demirezen is the most intriguing fight on the undercard. However, if not the Helenius upset by Wash, there would be less hope in Wash. Probably Demirezen handles him. So, the undercard is mismatched. They could do Sanchez vs the Ukrainian, Rice vs Demirezen, Wash vs Coffie, Kiladze vs Negron and there would be much more intrigue.

definitely. it's the heavyweights so there's always the possibility of an upset, still it's like they avoiding making more competitive fights even on this level. but why ffs?

[maverick23]

The greed of PBC is insane.

I really hope this does no business.

Even though I agree, I suspect Fox was involved in the decision to stage this event as a PPV.

They may even have the final say.

I’ll rephrase - the greed of all involved is insane.

Has there ever been a sequence of 3 months before with as many PPVs in the US?

[polecateddy]

This fight is kinda stressfull for PBC (and there fans).

If Martin wins, then it makes wilders best 2 wins look pretty bad.

IF ortiz wins, then a gerriatric beat one of your guys in the weird win/loss matrix and it devalues all of them, (washington, Kownaki, Martin, Hellenious).

My bet comes down to drug testing. ortiz is signed up to year round testing through WBC yea? if on top of that there is full Vada id Favor martin. If drug testing is weak and ortiz comes in jacked... then he should win with ease.

Drug testing, Ortiz will be clean. He can't these days because of his heart meds.
If Martin wasn't so crap, I would worry about Ortiz.

There’s no way on god’s green earth Ortiz isn’t at least injecting testosterone twice weekly to try and stay competitive, plus other ‘supplements’.

[adislav123]

This fight is kinda stressfull for PBC (and there fans).

If Martin wins, then it makes wilders best 2 wins look pretty bad.

IF ortiz wins, then a gerriatric beat one of your guys in the weird win/loss matrix and it devalues all of them, (washington, Kownaki, Martin, Hellenious).

My bet comes down to drug testing. ortiz is signed up to year round testing through WBC yea? if on top of that there is full Vada id Favor martin. If drug testing is weak and ortiz comes in jacked... then he should win with ease.

Drug testing, Ortiz will be clean. He can't these days because of his heart meds.
If Martin wasn't so crap, I would worry about Ortiz.

There’s no way on god’s green earth Ortiz isn’t at least injecting testosterone twice weekly to try and stay competitive, plus other ‘supplements’.

twice weekly? injecting testosterone? how much? what 'other supplements'? you seem yo have some knowledge on the topic. spill it! please!

[polecateddy]

Drug testing, Ortiz will be clean. He can't these days because of his heart meds.
If Martin wasn't so crap, I would worry about Ortiz.

There’s no way on god’s green earth Ortiz isn’t at least injecting testosterone twice weekly to try and stay competitive, plus other ‘supplements’.

twice weekly? injecting testosterone? how much? what 'other supplements'? you seem yo have some knowledge on the topic. spill it! please!

It’s quite usual for dopers to inject testosterone multiple times a weak to avoid dips in levels. Having a very constant level beating the usual diurnal rhythms of the body is one of the big advantages of doing it. There will likely be a steroid on top as he prepares, which is very common. Just ask The Rock.

[brilo33]

ortiz ko this paper chin prince

[Bandog]

I find it kind of ironic....or hypocritical, that Ortiz is constantly slammed for his past Ped use, but guys like Fury, Whyte, etc don't.

With the amount of money involved, you can bet boxers and their camps will find ways to cheat.

[tiny_acres]

I find it kind of ironic....or hypocritical, that Ortiz is constantly slammed for his past Ped use, but guys like Fury, Whyte, etc don't.

With the amount of money involved, you can bet boxers and their camps will find ways to cheat.

I have to agree with you. People sure have it in for some and give a pass to others

[KiwiRider]

There’s no way on god’s green earth Ortiz isn’t at least injecting testosterone twice weekly to try and stay competitive, plus other ‘supplements’.

twice weekly? injecting testosterone? how much? what 'other supplements'? you seem yo have some knowledge on the topic. spill it! please!

It’s quite usual for dopers to inject testosterone multiple times a weak to avoid dips in levels. Having a very constant level beating the usual diurnal rhythms of the body is one of the big advantages of doing it. There will likely be a steroid on top as he prepares, which is very common. Just ask The Rock.

He must have gonads like raisons by now.

[margaret thatcher]

I find it kind of ironic....or hypocritical, that Ortiz is constantly slammed for his past Ped use, but guys like Fury, Whyte, etc don't.

With the amount of money involved, you can bet boxers and their camps will find ways to cheat.

coming from the guy who worships ortiz, yet constantly rags on whyte, fury, and manny for using or even mere suspicion of using

[margaret thatcher]

I find it kind of ironic....or hypocritical, that Ortiz is constantly slammed for his past Ped use, but guys like Fury, Whyte, etc don't.

With the amount of money involved, you can bet boxers and their camps will find ways to cheat.

I have to agree with you. People sure have it in for some and give a pass to others

ortiz is one of those who gets off easiest for using , he's had an entire cult of wilder fanbois and dudes calling him the boogeyman without mentioning it. rather humorous comment from bandog when he constantly rags on other fighters he merely suspects of ped use while being an ortiz fanboi and hardly saying a word about luis's proven cheating

hey banny, manny pacquiao has never failed a test, but your boi ortiz had been caught cheating for multiple fights, how you like that homeslice?

[brilo33]

everyone is doping they might not even know it

[Perkin Warbeck]

I like this heavyweight card.

Sure, I would sooner see the very talented Sanchez in with a better opponent, and I would prefer Faust vs Washington, but 5 heavyweight fights on a boxing card has been rare over the past 20 years and is a treat for me.

I don't understand why anyone would complain about spending $40 on a PPV. I'm far from rich, but even for me it's not a lot of money nowadays.

[margaret thatcher]

ya, it will almost be a bit arousing seeing so many big dudes in one place at the same time, right my man?

[lazboy]

ya, it will almost be a bit arousing seeing so many big dudes in one place at the same time, right my man?

LOL!!

[maverick23]

I like this heavyweight card.

Sure, I would sooner see the very talented Sanchez in with a better opponent, and I would prefer Faust vs Washington, but 5 heavyweight fights on a boxing card has been rare over the past 20 years and is a treat for me.

I don't understand why anyone would complain about spending $40 on a PPV. I'm far from rich, but even for me it's not a lot of money nowadays.

It’s because there’s more PPVs than ever at the moment so a reasonable heavyweight card - nothing more than that - shouldn’t be at an additional cost - even if it’s $40.

[587010]

Hi,
Filip Hrgovic mentioned that this is in fact semi-final eliminator and that the winner would have to face him next to have to opportunity for an IBF mandatory fight. I didn't find anything about that outside of his website. Is this info correct?

[candyslim]

i mean sure, there are a lot of hw fights, but are any of those really that interesting? what happened to dat "free" boxing, now they are dipping even lower with the ppvs

That's just it. With the exception of the main event these fights are quite predictable and even if an upset should occur like a win for Polite-Coffie or Demirezen, I imagine the reaction of even those who know who they are is likely to be "Yeah, so what?".

No wonder they can get away with charging $40 PPV if people are open to the idea of shelling out for such lukewarm fare. I can hear them arguing in marketing : "People aren't going to pay for crap". "Yes they will - you just gotta give 'em plenty of it".

[Enlightened-One]

i mean sure, there are a lot of hw fights, but are any of those really that interesting? what happened to dat "free" boxing, now they are dipping even lower with the ppvs.

The PBC spent hundreds of millions of dollars on time-buy deals, which provided free boxing content to fight fans.

Unfortunately though, fight fans were complaining about the quality of bouts being televised, because they wrongly assumed they’d be seeing PPV quality main events for free. So they stopped tuning in.

The TV networks that financially benefitted from these time-buy deals actively refrained from renewing their deals with the PBC, because they didn’t want to pay for the privilege to broadcast boxing.

And when the PBC’s war chest became empty, they had to work with Fox & Showtime. Both these networks decide that when their budgets are running low, certain boxing shows will be covered as PPV’s.

It’s not a great situation, but ESPN have televised some poor PPV events. And DAZN is allegedly introducing them too.

I don’t know whether this is due to greed or whether boxing isn’t popular enough to fund marquee events without PPV revenue.

Anyway, the worst PPV events I've seen were: Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Renold Quinlan; and Kell Brook vs. Michael Jennings. But the Ortiz-Martin PPV is almost as bad as those two. It’s appallingly-bad!

[mikebourkefan]

Rice vs Coffie 2 should be as good or better then their first fight being that nobody is taking this on short notice. due to Luis being older it either ends in a brutal ko for king kong or Martin totally outboxes him to a decision

[mikebourkefan]

i mean sure, there are a lot of hw fights, but are any of those really that interesting? what happened to dat "free" boxing, now they are dipping even lower with the ppvs.

The PBC spent hundreds of millions of dollars on time-buy deals, which provided free boxing content to fight fans.

Unfortunately though, fight fans were complaining about the quality of bouts being televised, because they wrongly assumed they’d be seeing PPV quality main events for free. So they stopped tuning in

honestly Don King or somebody else could bring back the "Heavyweight Explosion" cards with c and d rate talent. weather on ppv or free i would be watching

[Ruthless-RKO]

Quotes: Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin press conference for Jan.1st match on Fox Sports pay-per-view

Top heavyweight Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and former world champion Charles Martin, plus rising heavyweight star Frank “The Cuban Flash” Sanchez and Puerto Rican Olympian Carlos Negron, previewed their heavyweight showdowns during a virtual press conference Tuesday before they step into the ring in FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View action Saturday, January 1 from Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Ortiz and Martin will meet in a 12-round IBF Heavyweight Title Eliminator in the main the event, while Sanchez and Negron clash in the 10-round co-main event as part of the action beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

The pay-per-view action will also see heavyweight contenders Jonnie Rice and Michael Coffie battle in a 10-round rematch, former title challenger Gerald “El Gallo Negro” Washington in a 10-round showdown against Turkish Olympian Ali Eren Demirezen, and unbeaten Viktor Faust facing Iago Kiladze in a 10-round attraction to open the pay-per-view.

Here is what the press conference participants had to say Tuesday:

LUIS ORTIZ

“I’m just thankful and happy to be in this position. It’s great to be at this stage. I’m ready to do my job and shine on New Year’s Day.

“It’s fascinating to be fighting so close to my adopted hometown in South Florida. I’m always motivated to fight, no matter what. My training camp is so intense that I still don’t have much time to see my family, but I’m looking forward to this fight in my backyard.

“My mind and my body are in tip-top shape. If anyone thinks that I won’t be up to the challenge, they’re dead wrong. I welcome any challenger, and that includes Charles Martin.


“My strategy and goal have not changed. I want to face the best and be the best. Whatever path that takes me on, I’m okay with it. The goal will remain the same.

“Everybody that knows me knows that I don’t mess around in the gym. Throwing punches is what I do best. I take it very seriously. If someone bests me one day, I say a good job, learn the lesson, and get better the next day.

“I’ve been able to help Carlos Negron in training, mainly because I know he’s fighting a Cuban opponent. That will help him, and I wish him the best on January 1.

“Nobody is ever going to be able to take away my dream of becoming world champion. I will continue to prepare for my next challenge against Charles Martin. Then I’m going to keep going up from there. I have no reason to believe that my dream won’t come true.

“I’m ready for war. I’m going to come out there and give it all that I’ve got. I’m not worried about any size advantages my opponent might have. My mentality is to be ready and take on all challenges.

“My name doesn’t get mentioned by other heavyweights because they’re avoiding me. I don’t know why they’re avoiding me, but I’ll be ready when they do call my name.”

CHARLES MARTIN

“Training camp has been excellent. I’m just working hard. I’m used to this by now. All I know is hard work. I’m putting in the effort each day. That’s what we do.

“This is the most focused I’ve been in my career. This fight is everything for me. A lot of people didn’t want to fight me. I give Ortiz credit for stepping up and taking the fight.

“People are going to be shocked with what I do in this fight. I’ve always had what it takes, and now I’m adding the main ingredient to it, which is dedication. I know that’s what it takes to become a world champion again.

“It’s like night and day for me since I lost the title. I used to eat fast food, and now my diet is entirely different. I always worked hard, but now I’ve put everything together. I feel unstoppable.

“Manny Robles has helped me become a well-rounded fighter. I can do many more things, and I have more tools in my arsenal. I’m a much more disciplined fighter inside and outside the ring.

“At this point, I’m just focused on Luis Ortiz. I can’t look beyond this fight. I’m focused on getting Luis Ortiz out of there. I wake up in the morning, and I see Luis Ortiz. I’m going to handle this business on January 1, and then I’ll be able to talk about the future.

“I’m in my prime right now. I’m ready to compete. I don’t want to fight low-level fighters. I want the best fights. I want to become a two-time world champion, and I have big expectations. I don’t want to waste any time in my career. I’m ready to rock and roll.”

FRANK SANCHEZ

“We’re so happy to be fighting in South Florida on January 1. We have great preparations with team Canelo right now. It could not be going any better. I want to show the Cuban fans in Florida that I will be ready for the world title next year.

“My fight in October was easier than I had expected. I left unscathed. So when I was asked about fighting on January 1, I did not hesitate. I fought well in my last fight, and I wanted to carry that momentum over to 2022.

“This is a significant fight for me. I want to keep climbing in the rankings, but I also want to stay active and continue to prove my worth. This is an excellent stage for me to do that.

“Carlos has been on my radar, and I had a feeling I would be fighting him at some point. I’ve studied him closely in the past. I feel like I’m the better boxer and that he will be another stop on my way to fighting for the title next year.

“The most important thing I learned from the Efe Ajagba fight was to not listen to the outside noise. All I heard about was how he was a guy who knocked everyone out. During the battle, I realized that I was able to steamroll him. But I realized that it’s not just about how hard you punch in boxing, but it’s about your technique.

“I’m ready to face the best. Everything I have learned from Eddy Reynoso has made me stronger and brought me to this point. I’m ready for anyone standing in my way. I’ll take on any challenge at any time.”

CARLOS NEGRON

“I’m very thankful for this opportunity. I feel great right now. We’re having very positive training and top-notch preparation as we prepare for January 1.

“I’m thrilled that we’re able to make this fight happen. The winners are going to be the fans. We both want to show what we’re capable of.

“I’m proud to be fighting a great fighter like Frank Sanchez. He put on a show in his last fight. I’m excited about the challenge. I’m very confident, and I have no nerves heading into January 1.

“I have to thank my team for keeping me active as they have recently. It’s been essential for me too. I want to be in the ring as long as I’m healthy. I’m hoping that activity will carry over into this fight.

“I felt like me, and Frank’s paths were going to converge at some point. We didn’t know when, but we knew it would happen. I respect him as a boxer, and I’m looking forward to this fight.

“I’m ready to adapt to whatever happens in the ring. I’m just going to take it round by round and base my style off of that. I’m going to figure it out at the moment. Anything I say beforehand will have little effect on what happens in the ring.”

TOM BROWN, President of TGB Promotions

“Heavyweight is the most powerful division in the sport. There’s nothing like a great heavyweight fight, and I’ll put a great heavyweight fight up against any sporting event in the world. Heavyweight boxing is back, and on January 1, we have top-ranked heavyweights, top heavyweight prospects, and a former heavyweight champion on this all-heavyweight card.

“The main event is a very intriguing fight, and it’s all part of an excellent lineup. The goal of every fighter is to become a world champion. Luis Ortiz, at six-foot-four, has twice vied for that title and knows he needs to beat Charles Martin for another chance at the crown. Charles Martin, at six-foot-five, is the highest-ranked IBF contender, and he’s been champion before. He wants to get back there again with a statement on January 1.

“In the co-main event, ‘The Cuban Flash’ Frank Sanchez, undefeated and standing at six-foot-four, comes in off of a big win on the Fury vs. Wilder III undercard, and he’s taking on the six-foot-six Puerto Rican heavyweight Carlos Negron, who is on a five-fight winning streak.

“It’s nothing but heavyweights on New Year’s Day. They’re the kings of the ring, and you won’t want to miss it.”

[Enlightened-One]

i mean sure, there are a lot of hw fights, but are any of those really that interesting? what happened to dat "free" boxing, now they are dipping even lower with the ppvs.

The PBC spent hundreds of millions of dollars on time-buy deals, which provided free boxing content to fight fans.

Unfortunately though, fight fans were complaining about the quality of bouts being televised, because they wrongly assumed they’d be seeing PPV quality main events for free. So they stopped tuning in

honestly Don King or somebody else could bring back the "Heavyweight Explosion" cards with c and d rate talent. weather on ppv or free i would be watching

The problem is, how did Don King fund those magnificent events he staged?

A lot of his fighters were treated appallingly. And the networks were more willing to spend money on boxing back then.

Times have changed, because fighters want to be paid and the networks are trying to cut costs.

It’s a vicious downward spiral: if the fans aren’t tuning in; the networks won’t fund the events; fighters won't fight if they aren't getting paid; the quality of the cards is reduced; and fewer fans tune in! Lather, rinse, repeat!