Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz are elite boxers but also fathers who fight for daughters born with challenging medical conditions.
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.
Luis Ortiz and rival Deontay Wilder have bonded over health issues faced by their daughters. Ryan Hafey / Premier Boxing Champions
“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.’’
Brian Kenny will take up the play-by-play role for Fox’s upcoming PPV broadcast of the heavyweight title fight, Wilder-Ortiz II.
If only the fighters could move as freely between networks.
Fox’s pay-per-view show featuring the heavyweight title fight between Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz on Saturday will include a different – but familiar – voice on the broadcast.
Veteran Brian Kenny, who currently works for rival streaming platform DAZN, will assume the blow-by-blow role alongside analysts Joe Goossen and Lennox Lewis, according to a release.
Fox normally rotates between Chris Myers and Kenny Albert for its blow-by-blow duties but both of them are tied up with NFL assignments, according to a member of Fox’s PR team.
By bringing in Kenny, who also works for the MLB Network, Fox gets a familiar name with a deep boxing background.
Kenny worked on a few PBC on Fox broadcasts from 2015 to 2017. He also has done boxing work for ESPN.
Four of the five best heavyweights will be in action within a two-week period. And they’re not fighting stiffs; they’re facing each other.
GOOD
Four of the five best heavyweights will be in action within a two-week period. And they’re not fighting stiffs; they’re tangling with each other. How often does that happen?
On Saturday, Deontay Wilder defends his title in a rematch with Luis Ortiz in Las Vegas. On Dec. 7, Andy Ruiz Jr. defends his belts in a second fight with Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia. And Tyson Fury, the fifth heavyweight, is in the wings waiting to see how it all plays out.
If you like heavyweight boxing, this is good.
These are tough assignments for all involved, at least on paper. Wilder survived a scare in the seventh round to stop Ortiz in Round 10 in March of last year. Ortiz clearly has the ability to give Wilder trouble – we’ve seen it – and the 40-year-old Cuban seems to understand that this might be his last chance to strike it rich. By all accounts, he’s remarkably fit.
I think Wilder, with the experience of the first fight in the bank, will win again but to say that Ortiz is a live underdog is an understatement.
Many questions surround the Ruiz-Joshua rematch. Ruiz stunned the boxing world by stopping Joshua in seven rounds in June. And it wasn’t a lucky punch that did the trick. Joshua went down four times and seemed to give up in the end, a psychologically damaging fate from which it’s difficult to bounce back.
Should Joshua have taken an interim fight to rebuild his confidence? Will he simply make necessary adjustments and reclaim his rightful position in the heavyweight hierarchy? Does Ruiz have Joshua’s number?
Fascinating stuff.
BAD
Please: Don’t subject us to more of this rubbish. Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images
One main event between YouTubers was enough, even if it did increase DAZN subscriptions and attract some new fans to boxing, as those involved insist. Now promoter Eddie Hearn is hinting that there might be more of that nonsense to come
Ugh.
Hearn had told BoxingScene.com before the KSI-Logan Paul “fight” that he didn’t expect to stage more silly spectacles. Now, after what Hearn and Co. perceive to be a success, they apparently are open to more fights involving YouTubers or other non-boxers on otherwise legitimate cards.
Hearn told BoxingScene: “What we can’t do is turn it into a circus and have random people fighting each other all over the place.”
Guess what: KSI and Logan Paul are random people, at least to boxing fans in general. And, if what Hearn seems to be suggesting becomes reality, we could be headed in the direction of them “fighting each other all over the place.”
The good news is that Hearn said he doesn’t expect YouTubers to headline a boxing card again, although I won’t be surprised if KSI-Paul III ends up as a main event. An exhibition low on the card is much more palatable.
Here’s a better idea, though: Have separate cards featuring only internet personalities and the like. You’ll still make money. You’ll still attract some non-fans to the sport. And you’ll give true fans the ability to opt out if they wish to do so.
I guess I’m a purist. I still cringe when I think of Devin Haney and Billy Joe Saunders fighting on the KSI-Paul undercard. And I know I’m not alone.
WORSE
Did Joe George (left) get enough done against Marcos Escudero to deserve his victory? Dave Mandel / Showtime
I don’t know whether this is bad, worse or something else.
The 10-round light heavyweight fight between Joe George and Marcos Escudero on the ShoBox card Friday in Iowa produced yet another controversial decision, with George winning a split decision even though he was clearly outworked by Escudero.
The Showtime commentators gave George only a few rounds. And I scored it 97-93 for Escudero, seven rounds to three. The official scores? 97-93 and 97-94 for George, 96-94 for Escudero.
I’m still scratching my head.
My instinct is to bemoan yet another example of poor scoring but I’m not so sure I have it right. George (10-0, 6 knockouts) seemed to spend half the fight covering up with his back against the ropes, taking far more punches from Escudero (10-1, 9 KOs) than he was delivering.
Many of Escudero’s shots hit gloves and arms, which means they weren’t scoring blows, but plenty of them did hit legitimate targets. Or so it seemed. I wasn’t at ringside, as the judges were.
I presume that the two judges who scored the fight in George’s favor – Bob LaFratte and Carlos Sucre – saw those exchanges differently. They must’ve thought that George blocked the vast majority of those punches. And I suppose one could argue that the winner landed the bigger blows when he didn’t open up and let his hands go.
I don’t know, though. It sure felt from watching on TV as if Escudero won that fight.
Luis Ortiz suggested that he’ll be better prepared for Deontay Wilder’s unpredictable style when they meet a second time on Saturday.
Deontay Wilder calls them tactics. Luis Ortiz calls them antics.
Whatever they are, Ortiz promises to be ready for them in their heavyweight-title rematch Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“I think that some of the things that Wilder did and the antics that Wilder does could be dealt with differently this time around,’’ Ortiz said through a translator in a recent conference call to promote the sequel to his 10th-round knockout loss to Wilder in March of last year. “…You absolutely never know what Wilder is going to do as far as how he approaches his fights.
“But one thing for sure is that, both mentally and physically, I’m at my best and prepared. So he can bring whatever he is going to bring. No problem.’’
Ortiz (31-1, 26 knockouts) was educated in the Cuban school of classic boxing skill. Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) is all about power. His right hand is today’s most dangerous punch. In terms of history, his right is a classic finisher, an emphatic end to 40 of his 42 fights. It can land from anywhere and at any time, often a sudden strike out of a storm of chaos.
Call it Classic vs. Chaos.
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Trainer Herman Caicedo believes Ortiz’s fundamental skill set can dictate pace and be the difference in the rematch if he can sustain what he does throughout 12 rounds.
“I think the best thing that was going our way was him boxing – getting behind a good jab, and just beating him to the punch and not allowing Wilder to just get crazy with his antics and come out swinging, wailing away,’’ Caicedo said of the first fight, in which Wilder was in deep trouble in a memorable seventh round.
The difference this time, Caicedo said, rests in being “a little bit better on the technical side and on the basics’’ throughout the fight.
“But, again,” Caicedo added, “like Luis just said, it’s very difficult with (Wilder) sometimes, because he’ll spin around and hit you with a back fist. So it’s like you never know what could happen.’’
Ortiz’s conditioning might be a key. He got tired in the first fight, especially in the 10th when Wilder’s predatory power finished his fatigued opponent.
Caicedo is confident that a better-conditioned Ortiz will finish Ortiz.
“He has dedicated 12 weeks in Las Vegas to a camp, and he has really given everything that he obviously couldn’t the first time around,’’ Ortiz’s trainer said. “So, at the end of the day, it’s 1000 percent he will be there. He is a much superior boxer, fighter, thinker and has the experience.
“Wilder has the experience over (nine) defenses but Luis has experience over a history of fighting since he was 10 years old. So that’s going to make all the difference when it comes down to all things being equal in condition.’’
Deontay Wilder said he used his wits to overcome a rocky seventh round in his first fight with Luis Ortiz.
Ring IQ is a term never seen anywhere near Deontay Wilder’s name. His right hand has been all the IQ he has ever needed. He throws it. It lands. It’s over. It’s a pretty simple formula. The proof rests in his astonishing record. Forty-two fights, 40 stoppages. Brilliant, no matter how you calculate it.
Yet Wilder says he doesn’t get the credit he deserves for thinking through adversity.
Example: A rocky seventh round in his victory over Luis Ortiz in their first fight on March 3, 2018 in Brooklyn.
“Yes, I remember getting buzzed,’’ Wilder said in a conference call this week for their rematch on November 23 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
But the buzz didn’t cloud his thinking, Wilder said. He bluffed, he said, but then thought better of it as Ortiz came after him. Wilder said he knew he had to maintain a safe distance, which meant staying close enough to eliminate the leverage Ortiz needed to deliver a finishing blow. For the round’s remaining 40 seconds, that’s what he did, allowing the heavyweight champion to go on to win by a 10th-round stoppage.
“I didn’t get no credit for the intellect that I had in the ring coming around in the seventh round,’’ Wilder said. “So I knew what I was doing and when the bell rung. You can see I knew exactly where I was. I went right back to my corner and I still was talking (expletive) going back there, too.’’
Wilder said he was never hurt in the pivotal round.
“I think people use hurt too much,’’ Wilder said. “They throw that (around) too much because they don’t understand the difference between buzzed and hurt. I advise anybody, if you are in boxing and you want to talk about boxing, experience some of things that we go through. Go in the ring, get hit and see what it feels like to get buzzed or maybe even get knocked out.
“But I understood everything that was going on with me. I was coaching myself internally. My inner voice was telling myself to keep going.’’
Ringside pundits didn’t see what was happening, Wilder said.
“I didn’t want to waste any unnecessary energy, because I wanted to be able to recover,’’ he said. “So,I didn’t want to use that much energy, and so that’s why I hit him anywhere I could, no matter where. It was so that the referee could understand that I’m very active. I’m aware and I can still fight. I don’t think I got enough credit for that.’’
Deontay Wilder’s nine successful defenses during a single title reign equals three greats at No. 6 on the all-time list.
The first word you might think of when Deontay Wilder is mentioned is power. Another word might also be appropriate: longevity.
Lennox Lewis and the Klitschko brothers became known for their consistency over an extended period of time and Wilder is beginning to build the same sort of legacy. Wilder outpointed Bermane Stiverne to win his heavyweight title in January 2015 – close to five years ago – and has successfully defended nine times, including his draw with Tyson Fury last December.
That figure – nine successful defenses by a heavyweight titleholder in a single reign – equals Joe Frazier, Lewis and Vitali Klitschko at No. 6 on the all-time list. If Wilder beats Luis Ortiz in their rematch on Nov. 23, he will pull into a tie with Muhammad Ali at No. 5.
Before Lewis, you have to go back to the early 1980s to find such numbers. Larry Holmes made 16 consecutive successful defenses during a single reign between 1978 and 1983.
Wilder has successfully defended his title against Eric Molina, Johann Duhaupas, Artur Szpilka, Chris Arreola, Gerald Washington, Stiverne, Ortiz, Fury and Dominic Breazeale.
Here is the Top 10 (number of successful defenses in a single reign):
1. Joe Louis – 26
2. Larry Holmes – 19
3. Wladimir Klitschko – 18
4. Tommy Burns – 11
5. Muhammad Ali – 10
6T. Joe Frazier – 9
Lennox Lewis – 9
Vitali Klitschko – 9
Deontay Wilder – 9
10. Jack Johnson – 8
Joe Louis’ records for number of successful title defenses seem safe. U.S. Army via AP
Of course, Wilder, who has had only one reign as titleholder, is lower on the list of total successful defenses. Here’s that Top 10:
1. Joe Louis – 26
2. Wladimir Klitschko – 23
3. Muhammad Ali – 19
4. Larry Holmes – 19
5T. Lennox Lewis – 13
Vitali Klitschko – 13
7. Mike Tyson – 9
8T. Joe Frazier – 9
Deontay Wilder – 9
10. Evander Holyfield – 7
Deontay Wilder is asking Luis Ortiz to clarify remarks Ortiz made about Wilder tactics that “should be illegal and borderline criminal.’’
Deontay Wilder is asking Luis Ortiz to clarify remarks Ortiz made through a translator about Wilder tactics that “should be illegal and borderline criminal.’’
Wilder was surprised to hear what Ortiz said Tuesday during a conference call for their heavyweight rematch on Nov. 23 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.
“I’ve never heard of that, so I’m going to think he’s being sarcastic,’’ Wilder said. “The only thing that’s criminal is me hitting people with the right hand and almost killing them.’’
Through his translator, Ortiz, a Cuban, questioned the punches thrown by Wilder, who knocked him down three times – once in the fifth round and twice in the 10th – in a Wilder victory on March 3, 2018 in Brooklyn. Ortiz is quoted as saying that Wilder threw clubbing blows on the top of the head. He also said Wilder used the inside of his hands in delivering his punches.
“Quite frankly, it should be illegal and borderline criminal,’’ Ortiz said. “You never know what Wilder is going to do and how he approaches his fights.’’
Wilder (41-0-1, 40 knockouts), usually a trash-talker, has praised Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs) since the rematch was announced in mid-September.
“He needs to clarify that for me before I take it the wrong way,’’ said Wilder, who agreed to a dangerous rematch that some say puts his projected sequel with Tyson Fury in February in jeopardy. “We know when I get mad, it’s over with.
“Right now, I’m neutral with him. I’m very respectful. He should thank God that I blessed him a second time when I didn’t have to before I take this the wrong way and really want to beat his ass.’’
Oleksandr Usyk said he wanted to fight for a title after his successful heavyweight debut but might face Derek Chisora first.
Oleksandr Usyk didn’t waste any time. He went from a predictable victory in his heavyweight debut to saying he wanted a shot at a title in his next fight.
Not so fast.
It’s beginning to sound as if Usyk is altering his timetable.
Usyk manager Egis Klimas said the former cruiserweight-turned-heavyweight would be interested in a bout with Derek Chisora. No title there. But Chisora would keep Usyk busy in what would also be a chance to get some more experience at his new weight.
Usyk plans to be Saudi Arabia on December 7 for the Andy Ruiz Jr.-Anthony Joshua rematch on DAZN. Three of the major belts are at stake in that one. The fourth is at stake on November 23 in champion Deontay Wilder’s rematch with Luis Ortiz in Las Vegas on pay-per-view.
“We don’t know what happens on December 7,’’ Klimas told Sky Sports. “But if it is possible to fight in between and not to wait for another six months, I think Chisora will be a good fight for Usyk.”
Usyk, who held all of the cruiserweight belts, is already the mandatory challenger for one of the heavyweight belts held by Ruiz, who upset Joshua on June 1 in New York.
Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn has said that the December 7 winner will probably vacate one of the belts.
