Luis ''King Kong'' Ortiz résumé

Bang average gatekeeper level resume, at best... Paper thin.


His record is defined by two fighters, both overhyped.

One is his best win, Bryant Jennings - a man whose biggest achievement was losing a pretty wide UD to Wlad. Respectable on some level, but not special.

The other is the man who beat him... Deontay Wilder... A man whose own resume is paper thin - who only ever fought one actual contender, and lost badly (including to a fat and unfit version).

Then you have the fighter Ortiz got offered - by far the biggest payday in the division at the time, Anthony Joshua... Ortiz decided he'd rather pass on that title fight and fought Wilder again - why? Perhaps because he knew Wilder was much more beatable and holding that belt could've gotten a much better AJ payday?


Ortiz is as clear a hypejob as you'll see - for a supposed "bogeyman" who's reputed to have been avoided, he's just fought next to nobody relevant... And that means he either overvalued what cuts he should get, or just didn't want those fights.

 

He could of done better and made more money had he taken all the opportunities he was given. His resume is sorely lacking even for a gatekeeper type fighter.

But I guess it depends upon your expectations. He usually the 2nd or 3rd best heavyweight in his own country as an amateur, so given that you could perhaps argue he did better than many would have expected when he turned pro.

But overall he failed to live up to the hype that was created from the Jennings win. He did have opportunities like the eliminator vs Ustinov that would of gotten him a title shot sooner and the offer to fight AJ for a record payday he also turned down. So in the end he probably failed to maximise his potential, but I suspect he's fine with how his career panned out, he never came across to me as a fighter who really believed in himself or had the desire to reach the top. He simply fought for a pay check and was happy not to take too many risks.

 

He had some skills and was better than the Whytes, Parkers, and Ruiz's of the division imo. His resume can't really back that up though, so it's just speculation as to how good he really was. I would have liked to have seen a Povetkin fight around 2015.

 

Jennings and Fury both made their reputations with boring efforts against a shot, disinterested, gunshy old Wlad.

 

He got some big paydays and title shots, that’s something about 99% of pro boxers can only dream about. Thing is he went pro way too late and never looked to be in stellar shape at any point in his career. If all things went right for him he would’ve had a slightly better resume, nothing crazy though. He was just a big southpaw hitter with a solid skill set, not an elite talent or anything. I always did enjoy watching him, the man had some serious power in that left hand.

 

To be honest, if he was really any good, he should have beaten Wilder. He was a solid fighter with skills but nothing special.

 

Dead easy to look skilled fighting cans... But looking good and actually being good aren't quite the same thing - he proved nowhere near as much as those guys, so I can't rate him as highly, simple as that.

 

Even shot to bits at 43 years old he was very competitive with Ruiz, this would lead me to believe he would have beaten him in his prime. You are right though, those 3 have a better CV than him.

 

Ruiz wasn't nearly at his best, either, but then he rarely is in fairness.

I'd have to say, personally, that he chose to have a **** resume - you can't just claim to be avoided, the fights are out there if you're willing to take the cuts that are necessary to build up the kind of resume and following that makes you able to demand bigger slices of the pie - Ortiz never really did.

 

Depends on what is considered a successful career.

In my opinion Ortiz definitely had a successful career, since he’s consistently been a top heavyweight for around 10 years and he’s made a lot of money.

Ortiz most likely even would’ve become a champion if he got his current team several years early than he did, since although Jimenez meant well a more seasoned Manager would’ve never let Hearn and Joshua ignore Ortiz’s mandatory status and defend against Wlad.

 

Had he gotten the W over Wilder, it'd be B+.

 

He got to fight for a title, so you can consider that a success, but at the world level/ historical level. I'd say no.
He was never a champion, and he's not even in the discussion for the "best to have never won a championship". He's never beat anyone good enough to be in that conversation.

 

You forgot his pro fights in the 80s

 

Pro ranks found him out it seems