BoxRec

Sources: Luis Ortiz and Charles Martin agree to fight on New Year's Day in Florida

Luis Ortiz and Charles Martin have agreed to meet in a heavyweight fight on Jan. 1 at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida, multiple sources have told ESPN.

The New Year's Day clash presented by PBC pits Ortiz, ESPN's No. 8 heavyweight, against Martin, a former heavyweight titleholder who sits just outside the top 10.

Ortiz (32-2, 27 KOs) twice challenged for the heavyweight championship. Both times, he was knocked out by Deontay Wilder in a fight he was winning on the scorecards.

Ortiz, from Cuba, will end a career-long 14-month layoff with the fight against Martin. He last competed in November 2020 with a first-round knockout of Alexander Flores. Ortiz, 42, resides in Miami, so the fight will be a homecoming for him.

Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) will also be halting the longest inactivity of his career. The 35-year-old hasn't fought since a sixth-round TKO victory over Gerald Washington in February 2020.

The Southern Californian's losses came against former champion Anthony Joshua and later vs. Adam Kownacki. Ortiz and Martin figure to be the toughest test of each other's careers outside of their combined four defeats.

Ortiz is definitely more skilled but he is now very old while Martin is better than most think because of his performance against AJ(definitely not world level though). Ortiz will probably win by decision but Martin could make it tricky if Ortiz's gas tank won't hold up in the later rounds due to his age.

What happens to Wilder's reputation if Martin wins?

PBC keeping it in house.

Not a straightforward call due to inactivity of both. Really depends if Ortiz has anything left at his age.

Charles Martin has a very high IBF ranking. Assuming it will be an IBF eliminator.

Southpaw vs. Southpaw.

I have feeling this will be FOX.

I might have been plenty interested in this fight 5 or 6 years ago. If it's free I'll watch out of morbid curiosity considering Ortiz hasn't fought in a year and hasn't fought a decent opponent in two years. And Martin hasn't fought in almost two years and hasn't fought a decent opponent in over 3.

A fun matchup. By the eye-test, Ortiz gotta crush the likes of Martin, but with Ortiz' endless obscurity and increasing age you'll never know for sure.

I welcome this fight.

luis ortiz celebrating his 253rd new years with this fight

joshj909 wrote: ↑15 Nov 2021, 16:44
What happens to Wilder's reputation if Martin wins?

its interesting to note that about 95 percent of ortiz fanbois are also wilder fanbois, instead of there being a rivalry with ortiz fans vs wilder fans. in fact, ortiz fans vs wilder fans is basically non-existant , which is bizarre for a 'rivalry'

do they puff up ortiz just to make wilder look better or something?

Heavyweight boxing match. Good for boxing, should be fun

You know what I like it. Let’s go Charles Martin!

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑15 Nov 2021, 17:45

joshj909 wrote: ↑15 Nov 2021, 16:44
What happens to Wilder's reputation if Martin wins?

its interesting to note that about 95 percent of ortiz fanbois are also wilder fanbois, instead of there being a rivalry with ortiz fans vs wilder fans. in fact, ortiz fans vs wilder fans is basically non-existant , which is bizarre for a 'rivalry'

do they puff up ortiz just to make wilder look better or something?

Well you gotta defend his best win!!! LOL! Regardless, I wouldn't bet against DW vs Martin.

Looking forward to seeing Charles once again walk this earth like a God...in very small shorts.

Even matchup.

Luis Ortiz is old and faded, and by now Charles Martin will probably have declined somewhat due to inactivity.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑15 Nov 2021, 16:51 Southpaw vs. Southpaw.

Who Cares Vs Who Cares

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.

gregregegg wrote: ↑16 Nov 2021, 02:36 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.

Luis Ortiz:

Age (based on the 1st January 2021 fight-date):
• 42 years & 9 months (unconfirmed)

Best three career victories (as per BoxRec):
• Bryant Jennings (December 2015)
• Malik Scott (November 2016)
• Tony Thompson (March 2016)

Failed VADA drug tests:
• Nandrolone (October 2014)
• Diuretics chlorothiazide and hydrochlorothiazide (September 2017)

Losses:
• TKO 10 – Deontay Wilder (March 2018)
• KO7 – Deontay Wilder (November 2019)

World title fights:
• Stoppage loss to Deontay Wilder (March 2018)
• KO’d by Deontay Wilder (November 2019)

Bouts competed in within the previous three years (as per the 1st January 2021 fight-date):
• Alexander Flores (Win)
• Deontay Wilder (Loss)
• Christian Hammer (Win)

Rate of activity (based on the 1st January 2021 fight-date):
• One fight within the last 2 years 2 months

Charles Martin:

Age (based on the 1st January 2021 fight-date):
• 35 years & 8 months

Best three career victories (as per BoxRec):
• Vyacheslav Glazkov (January 2016)
• Gerald Washington (February 2020)
• Alexander Flores (April 2014)

Losses:
• TKO2 – Anthony Joshua (April 2016)
• UD – Adam Kownacki (September 2018)

World title fights:
• Stoppage loss to Anthony Joshua (April 2016)
• Stoppage victory over Vyacheslav Glazkov (January 2016)

Bouts competed in within the previous three years (as per the 1st January 2021 fight-date):
• Gerald Washington (Win)
• Daniel Martz (Win)
• Gregory Corbin (Win)

Rate of activity (based on the 1st January 2021 fight-date):
• One fight within the last 2½ years

gregregegg wrote: ↑16 Nov 2021, 02:36My bet comes down to drug testing. ortiz is signed up to year round testing through WBC yea?

The last time Luis Ortiz successfully completed VADA drug testing was July 2019.

Being enrolled in year-round drug testing doesn't mean he's actually tested. Most fighters enrolled in the CBP are rarely tested.

Random thoughts:

• Deontay Wilder will be matched against Charles Martin if he beats Luis Ortiz.
• Andy Ruiz Jr. will be matched against Luis Ortiz if he beats Charles Martin.
• The winner of the Ortiz-Martin bout will be highly-ranked by all four governing bodies (probably becoming top-five in all of them).

KiwiRider wrote: ↑16 Nov 2021, 01:39

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑15 Nov 2021, 16:51 Southpaw vs. Southpaw.

Who Cares Vs Who Cares

The HW’s don’t even fight each other.

I’m not over the moon about it. But why not.

I loathe both fighters, but I’ll inevitably end up supporting the man I least dislike, which is Charles Martin.

The is a crossroads fight, whereby the loser could be ejected from the PBC if they don’t give a good account of themselves – meaning that they could be forced to retire (or become cannon fodder for prospects or be paid peanuts to face horrendous journeymen).

The winner is guaranteed to receive an impressive rating by all four governing bodies, as well as by The RING, ESPN & TBRB, and is also guaranteed to engage in at least one more highly-paid marquee bout.

So there’s an awful lot riding on this one. This is a massively important fight for both men!

I don’t know who wins this one, I’ll need to do some thinking, but all the ratings currently suggest that Luis Ortiz beats Charles Martin, even though there’s clearly more to gauging the outcome of fights than looking at rankings.

This is a funny one, these 2 fighters will never win a world title against the 2 current holders, but are in that group hovering around waiting for their shot.

As long as Fury and Usyk have the belts I don't see any other current heavyweight who could possibly beat either of them.

Sources: Luis Ortiz and Charles Martin agree to fight on New Year's Day in Florida

Luis Ortiz and Charles Martin have agreed to meet in a heavyweight fight on Jan. 1 at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida, multiple sources have told ESPN.

The New Year's Day clash presented by PBC pits Ortiz, ESPN's No. 8 heavyweight, against Martin, a former heavyweight titleholder who sits just outside the top 10.

Ortiz (32-2, 27 KOs) twice challenged for the heavyweight championship. Both times, he was knocked out by Deontay Wilder in a fight he was winning on the scorecards.

Ortiz, from Cuba, will end a career-long 14-month layoff with the fight against Martin. He last competed in November 2020 with a first-round knockout of Alexander Flores. Ortiz, 42, resides in Miami, so the fight will be a homecoming for him.

Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) will also be halting the longest inactivity of his career. The 35-year-old hasn't fought since a sixth-round TKO victory over Gerald Washington in February 2020.

The Southern Californian's losses came against former champion Anthony Joshua and later vs. Adam Kownacki. Ortiz and Martin figure to be the toughest test of each other's careers outside of their combined four defeats.