Luis Ortiz can still bang, we know that. But did we get anything other than this confirmation from last night’s flash of a fight between Ortiz and Alexander Flores? No. It was a mismatch going in and, though Flores, 18-3-1(16) insists he “saw black” and was hurt by a shot to the eye before the body shot knockdown he suffered, nobody was satisfied. Ortiz, at age 41 (some say he is much older, perhaps even 50 years of age), has no time to waste on mismatches.
Last night, Ortiz scored his first, first-round KO since back in 2015 (and the :45 second win he picked up last night is not the quickest win of his career; Ortiz stopping a guy in just :30 secs back in 2012) but we all know he needs a real fight next. There has been talk of a fight between Ortiz, 32-2(27) and former champ Andy Ruiz, but we still await Ruiz’s return to the ring.
Ortiz is great at calling out big names, but can he now actually get in the ring with one? Yes, Ortiz twice fought Deontay Wilder, but those two losing fights aside, Ortiz has not really faced anyone of elite note. How good is Ortiz? Again, we only really have the two Wilder fights to judge him by. We know Ortiz is dangerous, that he has a solid amateur background and that he can punch. But can Ortiz beat the best?
If he cannot get a fight with Ruiz in the first half of next year (after barely breaking a sweat last night, Ortiz could fight again in a couple of weeks), who could Ortiz fight instead? A fight with countryman Frank Sanchez (who scored an easy stoppage win of his own on last night’s card full of mismatches, the 16-0(12) 28 year old doing away with Brian Howard) would be somewhat interesting, while Ortiz against a guy like Michael Hunter or Dereck Chisora would also have fan interest.
Either of these guys would be good opponents for Ortiz. The main thing is we get no more gross mismatches chucked our way. Ortiz’ career can gain nothing from fights the likes of which he engaged in last night.