BoxRec

He was billed to the casual masses over here as King Kong a true heavyweight contender that was avoided and nobody in the HW division would go near. Then in his first fight stank the place out chasing Malik Scott around the ring (Scotts fault but it was awful as a spectacle) then fought mediocre British HW David Allen and did a number on him over 7 rounds but didn't demolish him. The general public kind of went "meh" . Had Scott come to fight and got bingo'd good style I think the casual fans would've got on board the Ortiz train.

Because both performances were so mediocre there was no interest in him - Hearn would struggle to sell him as a headliner. Shame Ortiz Whyte or Ortiz Chisora would've been good.

Rossy is very durable and hard to look good against.

Wales wrote:He was billed to the casual masses over here as King Kong a true heavyweight contender that was avoided and nobody in the HW division would go near. Then in his first fight stank the place out chasing Malik Scott around the ring (Scotts fault but it was awful as a spectacle) then fought mediocre British HW David Allen and did a number on him over 7 rounds but didn't demolish him. The general public kind of went "meh" . Had Scott come to fight and got bingo'd good style I think the casual fans would've got on board the Ortiz train.

Because both performances were so mediocre there was no interest in him - Hearn would struggle to sell him as a headliner. Shame Ortiz Whyte or Ortiz Chisora would've been good.

Why a headliner I always had him pegged as undercard ?

Thats just my opinion why he didn't make it in U.K.

He is an undercard fighter, all day long, but I'm not sure what the intentions were for bringing him over here. Surely the plan was to build him up in the U.K.? Had he blasted Scott and Allen it's not unthinkable for him to have topped a bill against a Whyte / Chisora / even a Price type on a standard Saturday show .

I thought they wanted to throw him at Anthony Joshua down the road at some point.

Evander wrote:I thought they wanted to throw him at Anthony Joshua down the road at some point.

Maybe when he turns 45.

He was that bad ?

He is too dangerous at this time.

Those are conflicting points

Evander wrote:I thought they wanted to throw him at Anthony Joshua down the road at some point.

I thought it was a back up to at least have control if he was Joshua's mandatory and beat him. After seeing him twice up close, hearn probably isn't as worried.

Evander wrote:Not yet it ain't.
Why did he not make it in the UK ?

I think we might see him in the UK again.. He signed on a fight by fight basis.. I think Hearn should have got him on the Wembley bill.. he's a mando, so potentislly AJ's next opponent.. more exposure was needed.

Maybe he could fight Povetkin?

Badhusker wrote:Maybe he could fight Povetkin?

Nothing to gain there.

Wilder signs to fight, and then Ortiz fails a drug test ...
A coupled of dudes here go

In the know 85 wrote:
Hearn gave him 1 fight against the most scared fighter I've ever seen, an absolutely petrified Malik scott, who didn't engage for 8 rounds and bored Ortiz to death. Should have put him in with Joshua. But that was never gonna happen was it.

No it wasn't. Why risk AJ against a formidable unknown (unknown to UK casuals that is) when there's more money to be made with a gimme like Bellew? That's not to reproach AJ or Eddie Hearn who arent risk-averse but that's just common sense.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote: I doubt ortiz would take on the likes of wilder.

Ortiz would love to fight Wilder and provided he hasn't gone backwards with age I'd fancy him to give Wilder a boxing lesson before knocking him out in the middle or later rounds. He'd need to be a lot sharper than he looked against Allen or Scott though. If you seriously think Wilder wants any part of Ortiz then you are on drugs, and not necessarily performance enhancing ones either.

candyslim wrote:

In the know 85 wrote:
Hearn gave him 1 fight against the most scared fighter I've ever seen, an absolutely petrified Malik scott, who didn't engage for 8 rounds and bored Ortiz to death. Should have put him in with Joshua. But that was never gonna happen was it.

No it wasn't. Why risk AJ against a formidable unknown (unknown to UK casuals that is) when there's more money to be made with a gimme like Bellew? That's not to reproach AJ or Eddie Hearn who arent risk-averse but that's just common sense.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote: I doubt ortiz would take on the likes of wilder.

Ortiz would love to fight Wilder and provided he hasn't gone backwards with age I'd fancy him to give Wilder a boxing lesson before knocking him out in the middle or later rounds. He'd need to be a lot sharper than he looked against Allen or Scott though. If you seriously think Wilder wants any part of Ortiz then you are on drugs, and not necessarily performance enhancing ones either.

You can't be a "formidable unknown" your either formidable or unknown... Ortiz is certainly formidable, if you look back I said Hearn signed Ortiz to keep him away from AJ, bellew is not going to fight AJ in a million years he's already said there's "no chance" of that fight happening. Now Ortiz is going to be the mandatory for the AJ vs klitschko winner so Hearn has shot himself in the foot because in my opinion Ortiz ko's AJ if Vladimir doesn't first.

No fighter is ever unknown in the literal sense, it's a relative term. Yesterday I spent an hour watching one of my earliest boxing heroes lose his world lightweight title at MSG. Ken Buchanan was a wonderful boxer. His technique, balance and timing meant he could hurt you but he was not a puncher and that put him at a disadvantage against his young challenger because he couldn't keep him at bay or force his respect.

The challenger was unbeaten with a string of knockouts over names that meant nothing over here. His Panamanian fans knew who he was of course, and so did serious hardcore fight-fans overseas, but few gave him any chance against the imperious Buchanan and it would be reasonable to describe him as "unknown" at that time.

His head was rarely out of Buchanan 's face and he wasn't too concerned about which side of the Rio Grande his bodyshots were landing, but it would be churlish to dwell on his rough-house tactics when the overwhelming factor was the incessant workrate of the youngster. It was like watching a matador against a bull that hadn't been softened up by picadors, and which never tired.

Of course that was his last fight as an unknown but unknown is what he was at that time. Surely you aren't going to tell me that Roberto "Manos de piedra" Duran wasn't formidable are you, because I don't think that Scotland's greatest fighter of the last fifty years would accept that?