Talk about a fight that went completely under the radar. Did you know Cuban heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz fought and won this past weekend? It turns out that 44 year old Ortiz, having his first fight since being beaten by Andy Ruiz back in September of 2022, took out local man Francisco Cordero in a round in Colombia on Saturday. Ortiz, who wiped Cordero out in a little over a minute-and-a-half, improved to 33-3-0-2 no contest (28) with the win. Cordero, a 37 year old journeyman, falls to 40-17 and he has now been stopped three times in a row.
Just why Ortiz was having a “secret fight” is something of a mystery, but the fight did indeed go under the radar, not even being reported on any web sites (unless I missed it). But what can Ortiz go on to do at this stage of his career, at his current age? There has been some chatter/rumour about a possible fight between Ruiz and Filip Hrgovic out in Saudi Arabia, but Frank Warren, when asked about this by Boxing Social, said he had not heard a thing about it, so who knows?
Ortiz, beaten only by Deontay Wilder and by Ruiz, probably still believes he can do big things, but will he get the chance? Why would any elite heavyweight agree to a fight with Ortiz now? Beat him, and you have beaten a guy who is older than George Foreman’s shorts, these from “Big George’s” first incarnation. Lose to Ortiz, and you are right back to the end of the line as far as getting a big fight/title fight opportunity.
But, like it or not, whether you even knew about it or not, “King King” Ortiz is back, the win of January 13th the Cuban southpaw’s first since back in January of 2022, when Ortiz got up off the floor to stop “Prince” Charles Martin in a pretty good action fight. Has Ortiz anything left to offer, and will any big names take a chance by fighting him?
Or might Ortiz engage in further “secret fights” we don’t even know about!?