36-yo Luis Ortiz v. 33-yo Ezzard Charles or 38-yo Archie Moore?

Probably not.

 

A man with that kind of power has to be given a chance against anyone. But frankly I wasn't terribly impressed with what I saw last night.. Sure he hammered Thompson.. But Tony was in no shape to be fighting a contender. He took that fight on five weeks notice and it definitely showed.. He was in abysmal condition. Not to mention 44 years old. He was slow as Ever and at times was standing stationary and not even in a fighting stance with his guard down.. He still tagged Ortiz with some good shots.. He rose off the canvas I think two times and might have gotten up a third had he not tweaked his leg on the way down. Ortiz is as dangerous as anyone but he's still a question mark as to how "good" he really is.

 

I'll give him a decent shot- is always tough to pick against southpaws because who knows what those backwards ass eaters are capable of.

Does better against Charles than Moore who had a lot more left.

 

He would probably find himself up against a bit of a wall, in terms of class.

Having said that, he has already surpassed Tua.

 

Can't see him beating the Charles that beat Joe Louis.

 

Nope, loses to both by decision.

 

Someone is feeling particularly controversial today

 

As ponderous and sloppy as Luis looked on Saturday night, I would say the odds are against him winning vs either. But, Ortiz does have decent power, and in the heavyweight division sometimes one punch can change everything. Especially from somebody Ortiz's size. But, as long as Ezzard and Archie fought the intelligent fights they were capable of fighting, I believe they would make Ortiz look foolish, and he would eventually gas out to the point where his chances of winning diminished with each passing round.

 

I don't think he's surpassed David Tua... At least not yet.. David Tua beat John Ruiz, Hasim Rahman ( though controversial ), an aged yet still competitive Michael Moorer, and Darroll Wilson when he was undefeated and had just sparked Briggs. Bryant Jennings is the only quailty victory I'll give Ortiz.. Thompson was in no shape to be in a boxing ring when Luis fought him.. The rest were no names. I don't question Ortiz's power. He might very well hit as hard as anyone. But his chin, heart, stamina, and skill need a more stern test before making any hard convictions.

 

Ortiz was disinterested in the Thompson fight. He wasn't even in shape. I'm not sure why it's being used as a measuring stick.

 

Yes, and I'd pick him to win. It's a shame Ortiz turned pro at age 30 and lacked the promotional team to get him better opposition sooner. Until recently Ortiz's competition was pretty poor.

Ortiz was a very good amateur. I watched his matches with Jennings and Thompson closely. He has natural power in either hand and is well schooled on how to deliver it. He doesn't need combinations to hurt you. He can do it with one shot.

We are talking about a 6'4" man here over 240 pounds with an 84" reach that can jab. Based on his attacking style and build, I'd say he can take a good punch, but that remains to be seen vs. an upper-level puncher.

A knock on him would be defense and just okay foot and hand speed.

Moore and Charles as skilled as they were are simply too small to last here and would need to pull off a Billy Conn like performance to win.

Heavyweight boxing these days is just a different animal. Boxing pundits used to say any man over 200 pounds can hurt you. I usually agreed with that statement but now we are talking about 240-250 pound men with skills who as a group certainly punch harder than they did in the 1940's and 1950's.

 

Is that how old Ortiz is now.

If it's the current version I favour then two to stick and move over 12 rounds.