luis ortiz back on hbo march 5 against tba

[badkatt]

i wonder who his opponent will be

[Escorpioza]

isnt it going to be Alexander Ustinov?

[Badhusker]

Haye would be interesting, he should be ready.

[Marlo Stanfield]

Haye would be interesting, he should be ready.

are you high? Like Haye is gonna get in there with Ortiz

[Rob3_142]

Haye would be interesting, he should be ready.

Ha! Like Haye would jump in the ring with Ortiz.

However Haye has already announced his next date, and that will be 21st May at the O2. It's been speculated that will be against a 'highly ranked HW', but i'd be surprised if it was against an actual top HW. We shall see!

As far as Ortiz goes, his promotion team has let him down a bit there by naming a date so soon before having an opponent. He's 36, he doesn't have a lot of time before he reaches his twilight, and he's not likely to get a decent opponent at such short notice. Anybody in the top 10 would need a decent pay day to step in the ring with him as he's a risky opposition. To damage their own career prospects by stepping in the ring with Ortiz for peanuts would be a bad career move for anyone. He needs to get a mandatory world title shot or work up a big summer fight.

[LGilsenan]

I thought Ortiz was fighting Ustinov?

[jujigatame]

Any chance they can get Pulev? That would be nice. Barring that, what about Martin? Is he a Haymon guy?

Ustinov would be a big step backwards for Ortiz.

[zorndeslammes]

Ustinov sucks but he's still better than most everyone Ortiz has ever faced and he's also physically large. That alone offers something to see with Ortiz.

[asdfjkl]

I expect top contenders to avoid him, and as far as I know most of them are busy anyway, except for Haye and Pulev as far as I know, but Haye is a bumfighter, not a top contender fighter and Pulev probably demands quite a lot of money, he's also in the second half of his carreer.

[jujigatame]

Ustinov is basically on the level of Vidondo. Would be a pointless fight.

[crusader]

Ustinov is basically on the level of Vidondo.

Come on, he's not that bad.

I highly doubt that he would've been close to being stopped by Costa, held to a draw by a 2-2 nobody, or beaten up by Fabio Moli.

[jujigatame]

I think he's that bad. I think the only reason people don't think he's worse is because he's fought exclusively D-list opponents since Pulev wrecked him. Anyone decent would treat him like a big punching bag.

[crusader]

The three opponents I mentioned with reference to Vidondo are D-level at best and he struggled mightily with them, even failing to beat the 2-2 guy. I doubt whether Vidondo could beat people like Bakhtov or a significantly fresher version of Sprott (and I'm not at all suggesting that these were impressive wins). I also doubt that he'd go 11 with Pulev and manage to rock him at one point.

Ustinov is obviously far from special but he's levels above Vidondo IMO and would beat him handily.

[jujigatame]

If they're on different levels, it looks something like this:

Ortiz
...
...
...
...
...
Ustinov
...
Vidondo

Pointless fight either way.

[greg]

...wonder what makes Ortiz all of a sudden soooo special ...spent 5 years fighting nobodies till he beat Jennings..didn't he also test positive?...

[crusader]

If they're on different levels, it looks something like this:

Ortiz
...
...
...
...
...
Ustinov
...
Vidondo

Pointless fight either way.

Whatever the difference, Ustinov isn't drawing with 2-2 opponents, getting knocked out by Costa Junior level opponents, or being put on the verge of a stoppage loss by someone like Eduardo Moli.

Nothing close.

[funso banjo baby]

it will def be an awful opp

[pound per pound]

Has Ortiz looked as good in previous fights?

[Loki]

I'd watch Ortiz v Ustinov. Ustinov isn't that bad and should give Ortiz some experience v a super heavyweight. Better opponent than Wilder has ever faced (barring Stiverne).

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Ustinov is his mandatory for June. He will not be the opponent on this date. They're certainly shirt on time. No idea whom they will get.

[crusader]

Rafael tweeted that a deal has been agreed to with Alexander Dimitrenko. Dimitrenko is a fragile fighter (mentally and physically) who is past his best, and I suspect that he'll be quickly stopped.

[jujigatame]

Wow, terrible opponent. Worse than Ustinov.

[Tony1244]

Rafael tweeted that a deal has been agreed to with Alexander Dimitrenko. Dimitrenko is a fragile fighter (mentally and physically) who is past his best, and I suspect that he'll be quickly stopped.

Didn't he once faint BEFORE a fight?

[Rob3_142]

Rafael tweeted that a deal has been agreed to with Alexander Dimitrenko. Dimitrenko is a fragile fighter (mentally and physically) who is past his best, and I suspect that he'll be quickly stopped.

Didn't he once faint BEFORE a fight?

[Rob3_142]

BOOM! Luis Ortiz v Alexander Dimitrenko for the interim WBA heavyweight title 5 March.

I think that's a potentially interesting fight with someone that's bigger than Ortiz and a very similar record. Unfortunately the record is largely inflated with loads of poor poor fights, including being taken the distance by world 575 in his last outing.

Feel sorry for Ortiz, he needs to step things up a notch.