Debatable. AJs legs were getting stiffened by old Povetkin, the Ortiz that fought Jennings vs AJ is a 50/50 fight. Ortiz has real skill along with top tier power.
Never mind the fact that Ortiz is the one that turned down the offer to fight Joshua, not once - but twice. All the while, being offered the biggest payday of his career. But hey, if that doesn't fit your agenda against Joshua, be sure to spin that narrative.
I voted Joshua on accident but Ortiz would win by KO. He only fought Wilder instead because Wilder is a better fighter than AJ
Old Povetkin still better than Ortiz in my opinion and also styles makes fights. Ortiz is nothing like Povetkin, he's a counter puncher while Povetkin's style is to press. Ortiz's inability to cut off the ring effectively would see him struggle to get to Joshua like Povetkin did and he would just plod forward waiting to counter and get picked off by the taller AJ, broken down and then taken out. I have no doubt had Ortiz had the balls to fight Joshua he would of been dominated and KO'ed inside 5 rounds and Ortiz knew this, hence why he ducked Joshua twice and made up the BS story about his management not telling him how much was offered and he didn't need to know the details because he trusted them but in hindsight it was a mistake. Yeah right like anyone could believe such a contrived story.
The AJ (covert Wlad/Lewis) brigade have no shame. You are implying that Ortiz was so scared of AJ (unlike diver Martin, quitter Molina or indeed AJ's conqueror Ruiz, who has been blatantly ducking Ortiz for over 2 years) that the 40+ year old Ortiz instead chose to fight the bigger punching champion who had already KO'd him 20 months prior (when Ortiz was more athletic, more durable, more confident and undefeated) for 20% of the money and a third as many belts... To parrot this blatant absurdity you would either have to be very stupid or very dishonest.
I never claimed Ruiz has a better record than Fury, but anyway, he probably thought he could beat Wilder and then fight Joshua for more money. I mean he got fairly close vs Wilder in two fights. Losing doesn't mean you think you'll lose again, look at how confident Donaire was recently vs Inoue
"KO'd inside 5 rounds" AJ doesn't KO anyone inside 7 rounds above domestic level who doesn't take a dive. This has been proven over 12 fights since December 2015. Ortiz is a Cuban (like E. Savon) southpaw (like Nistor, Cammarelle, Usyk) front foot counterpuncher (like Ruiz). Ortiz was all wrong for AJ, which is why the fight didn't happen in 2017. Hearn wasn't keen on it.
Would be interesting. But I see it going similarly to AJ vs Pulev, except AJ KO's him quicker as Pulev has a good chin, and Ortiz has the punch resistance of Povetkin.
I retract the claim about Fury and Ruiz, I got mixed up with your claim that 7 current HW's have better records than Wilder, which I regard as bizarre. Usyk has two meaningful fights at HW but is undefeated and has the cruiser wins (several of which have fought at HW) so I can see the argument. AJ got beaten up and quit against a 25-1 underdog and became the first SHW champ to lose conclusively to a cruiser. Ruiz had his Buster Douglas night against AJ but has generally been poor aside from that, next best win is either Arreola or Liakhovich (who Wilder beat far more convincingly years prior). Parker's never stopped anyone of note, failed to stop Cojanu and Fa and most of his best wins are controversial (Ruiz in NZ, green Hughie, Chisora 1) he also lost to AJ and Whyte, albeit with some controvery. Whyte's gone life and death with nearly all of his 2nd tier opponents (Parker, Chisora x2, Rivas, Wach) sustaining massive punishment, got KO'd by AJ in a war, was sparked by a badly faded Povetkin at home against the run of play and was toyed with for 6 rounds and one-punched by Fury. Pulev got absolutely flatlined by Wlad and was beaten badly by AJ. His best wins are Chisora (who he's now 1-1 with, albeit controversially) slightly less green Hughie, grandpa Thompson and prime Dimitrenko. "he probably thought he could beat Wilder and then fight Joshua for more money" That is a more reasonable explanation and obviates any implication that Ortiz was scared of AJ. The safest option financially (in so far as Ortiz was the master of his own destiny rather than Haymon) would have been to take the AJ fight, rather than to gamble on beating the man who already KO'd you so that you could potentially get a much bigger pot. Ortiz didn't get anywhere near beating Wilder in the 2nd fight, he got KO'd in round 7 and did little damage. He may have been 4 points ahead on two cards after 6 rounds but he had over 15 minutes left to survive on his feet while taking enough risks and expending enough energy to win rounds and his engine let him down 20 months prior, when he could also take a better punch, was more athletic and more confident of winning, against a significantly less experienced Wilder. Ortiz posed no KO threat; the whole gameplan was based on going 12 when that was never feasible.
He didn't do a lot of damage to Wilder in the 2nd fight, but he won every single round. But as wilder says, he only needs to be good for 2 seconds.
