did team luis ortiz do the right thing ?

No way of knowing until we see how Ortiz's career plays out but it does seem to be on the risky side.

GBP is one of the bigger promoters and HBO the biggest network(boxing wise) and both were pushing Ortiz.

Now he's without GBP and while he can still fight on HBO doing so without GBP is going to be a lot harder.

He seemed to have a good thing with GBP so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. If I had to take a guess I'd say this ends up being a bad move for Ortiz but maybe not.

 

Really dumb move IMO.

Between the age, risk profile, and the positive test, he's easy to avoid. Time isn't on his side. He needed connections to get better fights ASAP and is a perfect example of a dude who needs the mandatory system to get his chance.

Not ****ing hot would've helped him tremendously, too.

 

At 37 years of age, and with a small fan base, I think the best decision for him was to stay with a a company who can get him exposure, and who has negotiating power.

 

My theory has been that they grow up in a communist regime and just don't understand things like market value.

They seem to think " I'm really good, so I should get paid a lot and get big fights".

They don't seem to understand the business side at all.

 

This may very well be true. Fighters like Rigondeaux and Lara who have great potential to be exciting fighters choose to play it safe, and as a result damage their brand, thinking all they have to do to get the prize is to win.. No concept about putting on a show and building their brand.

 

No I don't buy that. There are thousands of wealthy and successful business people in Florida who are 1st generation Cuban immigrants. They do have a good work ethic, are ambitious and very disciplined.

Maybe the boxers were given many privileges in Cuba? How were the amateurs usually brought up? I guess they were local celebrities and all?

 

:good I'd noticed a similar thing and posted about it re: Rigo, Lara, etc.

The concept of market value, and that the market can and does reward a loser who fights in an entertaining style moreso than a flat-out winner, is one that's completely against everything they've been raised believing. Building fanbases, working outside the ring to build a popular persona, taking more risks in the ring....these are completely alien concepts for them. Fleeing Cuba to fight pro is still a relatively recent phenomenon, and they're learning on the fly.

The next gen guys who make the move will probably learn from this.

 

Lets hope so!

For example Luis Garcia came to Ireland(with Mike Perez and Alexei Collado) and is one of the most alented 175lbs'er out there.

But in the past 8 years has fought 14 times, having huge periods on inactivity(as can be said for the other 2 Irish Cubans!)
Hes with Di Bella now so hopefully he gets a little more active.

He was actually supposed to fight this week, but thats seems to have been called off...which could be another example of what I was talking about! :roll:

http://boxrec.com/boxer/462931

 

Perfect example. :twisted:

It's also going to take a promoter with the patience to stick through these guys' growing pains and bankroll them, because few who have other options are going to target them for cheap, and networks are reluctant to fund them.

Whichever Cuban gets the next huge fight opportunity like Lara got with Canelo is going to need to fight more fan-friendly, or else the narrative of the running, pot-shotting Cuban is going to make it that much harder for the next guy to get promotional and network support.

 

precisely, there no real upside to giving him a lucrative contract. hes an old, unknown fighter, without any group fan base you could sell him to.

 

Depends on what he does next, but yeah, this is a good move. HBO/GBP was only using Ortiz as a spoiler and not promoting him as a boxer. Now there's less stupid barriers for him to get a shot.

 

Good decision, if GBP couldn't deliver a title shot and they didn't then Ortiz had no choice, he can't wait much longer.

People talk about fan bases and market value but at 37 years old whatever he has now is what he is likely to have at best.

He will get a couple of offers and they will probably involve a title shot and then it's down to him.

 

37, a southpaw, good boxer with power, no promoter, and now
$1 million poorer = :gun

 

Horrible thing for Ortiz.

There's a lot more to the story than just paying off the promoter to get out of a contract. Just think about all the promoters the last 60 years or so---when a guy wants out of their contract and the promoter does not want it, twhat do they do? They all sue. And they were the one's writing the contract so you can guess who's favor that's in at trial time.

But they let him buy them out to sever tthe contract. Sure. They wanted this guy gone and managed to make a profit out of the deal as well. Great negotiating on one side of this and horrible on the other.

Just think..... a boxer nets what % of his purse, 33% or so? That translates to $3 million in purses for Ortiz. Who's picking up that kind of tab? Where is $3 million stake coming from?

Meanwhile the DLH side is saying we got a million for dropping this guy.

Who got the better of things? Just exactly how often is it the promoter gets screwed?

 

Just my gut feeling, but I bet Ortiz has a good dozen 'friends' and 'business men' blowing him so full of hot air with promises of huge purses and sold out fights he probably doesn't realize that he has zero fanbase and little TV appeal.