Unbeaten Cuban heavyweight Luis Ortiz has been forced to pull out of his scheduled April 22 fight with Derric Rossy due to suffering a thumb injury in sparring. Ortiz, 27-0(23) was to have boxed his debut under new promoter Al Haymon, his fight with Rossy an addition to the Shawn Porter-Andre Berto welterweight clash.
According to his team, the 38 year old southpaw was determined to fight on, but doctors advised him not to do so. But while this is bad news for Ortiz (he isn’t getting any younger and needs to stay as active as he can), spare a thought for Rossy. The Ortiz fight, one that looks unlikely to be rescheduled – Ortiz will reportedly now wait to fight the winner of the upcoming Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko fight – would have given Rossy a massive opportunity to gatecrash the heavyweight elite.
Now Rossy knows his big chance may not come again. Ortiz, recently named the WBA mandatory contender (the vacant belt to be on the line when Klitschko and Joshua meet two weeks today) will now focus his energies on challenging whoever wins on April 29. A tough challenger for either AJ or former king Klitschko, Ortiz will be a hugely interested observer of the Wembley mega-fight.
“They better get ready, because King Kong will be waiting for them,” Ortiz said recently, when referring to Joshua and Klitschko. “My plan is to become the heavyweight champion of the world.”
Whoever emerges victorious in a couple of weeks’ time, be it the young champ or the ageing former champ, will have a dangerous and deserving contender waiting in the wings. Ortiz was to have boxed his first fight of the year against Rossy, now the Miami based puncher will go into the fight with the Klitschko-Joshua winner without a “tune up” bout.
But will it matter? A number of good judges feel Ortiz – who last boxed in December, having worked briefly with Eddie Hearn – with his rough and dangerous style would beat either man.