Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz share more than a ring.
They are fathers who fight for daughters born with medical conditions that have required intensive care. It’s a shared experience, a bond between two dangerous heavyweights who will attempt to knock each other out Saturday night in a rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on DAZN.
Wilder’s daughter, Naieya, was born with spina bifida. It can lead to paralysis. With treatment, however, Naieya, lives like most teenaged girls. She’s a happy 15-year-old. It might not have been that way if Wilder hadn’t worked one odd job after another long before he imagined becoming a heavyweight champion.
In 2009, Ortiz fled Cuba on a perilous journey across unpredictable Caribbean waters and finally to the United States, all in search of the treatment his daughter, then 4-year-old Lismercedes, needed for a skin condition, epidermolysis bullosa. It can cause rashes and blisters.
They are rivals and dads who understand why the other fights and why they are fighting each other.
“I grew a great bond with Ortiz the first time, with his child and my child,’’ Wilder (41-0-1, 40 knockouts) said in a recent conference call while talking about his respect for Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs). “So, I know personally how hard it is and how much it takes to take care of a child with a disorder. It takes a lot of money and it takes a lot of care. So I grew a great bond with him.
“I have seen him as one of the top guys in the heavyweight division. And I want to bless him … for not only … being a great warrior, one of the best in the world, but also for his family.’’
As opening bell approaches, however, each dad promises to knock out the other. Wilder knocked out Ortiz in 10 rounds on March 3 of last year.
“I have plans to finish all of this before the final bell ends,’’ Ortiz said at a media workout at his Las Vegas’ training camp. “But if I need to go the distance, I’m also ready to reach the end of the fight.”
Wilder is bolder about what he intends to do.
“I see this fight going one way and that’s Deontay Wilder knocking out Luis Ortiz, point blank and period,’’ Wilder said. “You know it. He knows it. I know it.’’
As dads, however, they both go the distance.