Did Luis Ortiz Retire?

It is possible that he is waiting for one more, maybe even the last chance for a good paycheck...

 

Yeah...sure...46.

64, maybe.

 

Whatever he is...............he's older than advertised

 

Anything under 70 could be right.

 

Typical greedy fighter mentality while acting like he is some huge monster for all these years,

Ortiz is as bad as they come who hid behind other fighters words & promoters due to not having true believe in himself & the fact he was not what they were advertising him to be.

 

Nah he's a young 50.

 

In all fairness if Fury did fight him it would be just as bad due to the timing, when the God Charles Martin can put it on you & you get saved by your power it's a wrap.

 

That's it right there, his chin is so exposed now that going that route is not even a option hence his longer than usual inactivity.

 

Exactly amazing how a win from 2015 against the likes of Bryant Jennings had so much clout for alot of his career.

 

Doubt it. One of the big names will wheel him out to pad their record in the next year or 2.

 

Arguably the best Cuban heavyweight to compete in the pro ranks, or, if not, he's top two.

To date, he's certainly the most successful Cuban heavyweight in history (he's a multimillionaire).

Also, the most controversial.

Beat, among others, Charles Martin, Bryant Jennings, Monte Barrett, Christian Hammer, Tony Thompson, Bert Cooper, etc.

Had two cracks at the WBC Heavyweight Title. The first was a 'great' war with Deontay Wilder. Really exciting fight. (Collectively it's been viewed upwards of 14 million times on various 'official' PBC/Showtime YouTube channels). In the rematch, he was leading by a mile before getting stopped with one punch (from Wilder). No Cuban ever came closer to becoming an actual Big Four heavyweight champion than Luis Ortiz.

Ortiz also lost a close decision to former champ Andy Ruiz (the knockdowns being the difference on the cards). His only losses came against Wilder and Ruiz, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

Won TWO WBA "interim" heavyweight belts. Made one successful defense (against Jennings). Both "reigns" were utterly meaningless. Still, "interim" or "regular" belts were the only ones his peers like Povetkin and Whyte ever held. So those straps get a mention.

Controversies included his age (an ongoing debate), the first Wilder fight (where some felt Wilder got extra time to recover) and at least two positive PED tests, one of which cost him his first "interim" strap and the second positive test cost him that first title shot with Wilder (before the WBC cleared him).

There was more drama around his signing with Matchroom in 2016, which Ortiz felt would get him a shot at Joshua, only for Hearn to pit him against the likes of Malik Scott and Dave Allen in an attempt to keep him AWAY from Joshua (Hearn did the same to Whyte). Not to mention Hearn offering Ortiz a late sub shot at Joshua in 2019, and Ortiz's manager thinking it was a negotiation and turning down the first (and only) offer, leading Ortiz to beg Hearn to reconsider and telling Hearn he'd take the first offer. (Hearn said no and gave the fight to Ruiz, who took Joshua's belts).

If that's it for him, Ortiz leaves the ring with a 33-3 record (with 28 kos).

Everybody doesn't get to be a champion, but he was a real top contender in every sense.

He deserves a lofty spot in the history of Cuban boxing. If Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon are tops on the amateur side, Luis Ortiz and Nino Valdes are at or near the top on the pro side.

The first Cuban to become an actual World Heavyweight champion will, no doubt, bypass them all, though.

But Luis Ortiz was a colorful and much talked about top heavyweight that we'll all remember from this era.

 

Team Povetkin are on record admitting to ducking Ortiz:

https://www.rbth.com/sport/2014/04/...itschko_rematch_continue_to_recede_35827.html

Joyce's ex-trainer admits he kept Joyce away from a post-Wilder 1 Ortiz:

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Ruiz tried to duck a 43 year old, 2 KO defeat Ortiz to fight Tyrone Spong in Mexico:

https://www.dazn.com/en-GB/news/box...ong-in-mexico-city/12loa6v7xrjwu1swrsqcwck3xq

Chisora: Ortiz is like a southpaw Mike Tyson, I don't want to fight him

Takam pulled out of an Ortiz fight that he'd signed to fight Duhaupas, which also didn't happen:

https://www.boxingnews24.com/2016/10/luis-ortiz-vs-carlos-takam/

etc. etc. etc.

Hearn signed Ortiz in order to keep him away from Joshua. They even gave him Dave Allen (who was too brave for his own good and got badly beaten up) over Whyte.

 

I hope he's retired, I got as much interest in seeing him again as a Samuel Peter comeback.

 

It's a pity Savon or Stevenson never turned pro, Savon was a great right hand puncher I'm sure he would've done well in professional ranks.

 

Luis Ortiz hibernates for a period of 30 years at a time, re-emerging to try and defeat a champion to remove his curse of eternal life.