Why wasn't Luis Ortiz a part of the wider Klitschko era ?

Ortiz had an incentive based deal with PBC and also secured several other fights with them. Joshua only presented upfront money in exchange for a shortened camp. The total for the Wilder fight was about the same as what Hearn offered.

 

That's exactly how I remember it. That was the dumbest thing he ever did. His manager did it, and by the time he got back Ruiz had taken it.

 

Ortiz turned pro pretty late.

 

So it was a thing

 

Nobody cares that you don't understand Ortiz's contract.

 

Obviously, Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon are revered. Roberto Balado also had his fans.

However, until someone born in Cuba actually becomes a successful heavyweight champion ... you could make an argument that Luis Ortiz was the most successful Cuban heavyweight to ever turn pro in boxing history.

For a country known for its boxing, there really haven't been too many successful Cuban heavyweights in the pro ranks.

In 38 pro fights, Luis Ortiz won 35 and scored 30 knockouts. He fought for the WBC Heavyweight title twice. He only lost to two men - Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz - in his pro career, both of whom were heavyweight champions themselves. And Ortiz was a highly ranked heavyweight for the better part of a decade.

Ortiz doesn't have losses to nobodies. He was never really dominated in a fight. Wilder stopped him twice, but both fights were highly competitive. Andy Ruiz dropped him multiple times but couldn't put him away. And, without the knockdowns, Andy Ruiz probably loses on points. As it was, it was still a close fight, as well.

If you look at other Cuban heavyweights over the years, Odlanier Solis was by far the best Cuban amateur to turn pro. But he only received one title shot, and, in the pro ranks, he crashed and burned and couldn't even get past Tony Thompson. Jorge Luis Gonzalez had wins over Bowe and Lewis in the amateurs, and he was signed by Top Rank, but he failed to develop a pro style and never really amounted to anything and finished as a journeyman. Lenier Pero just lost. Eliseo and Elisier Castillo were good but never really stood out. Nino Valdes was a contender in the 1950s, but he lost regularly and never got a shot. Mike Perez floated between heavyweight and cruiser. So did Juan Carlos Gomez. Gomez got wasted in one round before his first title shot, and then eventually got one against Vitali, which he lost. Perez and Gomez, while good heavyweights, had the majority of their success at cruiser.

Really, only Luis Ortiz was a mainstay and top contender for so long at heavyweight who didn't suffer any embarrassing losses or implode.

Frank Sanchez may end up winning a belt. He has the potential to be the best, I guess. Although, there is just something about him that isn't very menacing.

Other than Frank, Luis Ortiz definitely has a case for being the best ever Cuban heavyweight in the pro ranks.

 

I think you're selling him short. Ortiz is 100% is the best Cuban to fight as a pro unless one of those guys with 5 or 10 fights pans out to be something special.

 

If it wasn’t for the Cuban missile crisis in 62 we would’ve got that fight against Patterson back when he was in his prime.

 

KO's are relatively rare in team combat league one rounders (Michael Hunter never scored one in at least 12 fights) but 47+ year old Ortiz has scored two in his first two:

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https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...ever-hold-a-title.729004/page-2#post-23146689

Among 41+ year old HW punchers/finishers, Ortiz is top 3 all time:

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/badly-hurt-aj-vs-top-41-year-old-hw-punchers.750197/

 

Been ko'd by Wlad inside three you mean.

 

Ortiz would be far more likely to KO Wlad inside 8 than Wlad would be to KO him inside 3. Wlad never stopped anyone of any note inside 3 or 4.

 

Why is he better than his contemporary Sanchez

 

Sanchez is just worse than him, but possibly could end up with a better career.

 

I think Ortiz is better and he's also more accomplished rn. Ortiz was higher ranked and ranked for much longer as it stands.

 

ask around. i'm pretty straightforward.

that said, ortiz was too big and strong for wlad to lay across his back for 8 or 10 rounds. so ortiz wasn't going to be exhausted by this tactic that wlad was trained to execute by the great manny steward to save him from being ktfo all the time. ortiz would have landed something at some point and wlad just can't take it at that level. vitali would have had to avenge him, which he was happy to do.