Thank you for the explanation. That makes as much sense as this situation allows I reckon. The vacant gaps in the IBF Rankings make it a little difficult, but If we exclude the gaps Back in early 2020 we had Hunter #6 Hrgovic #7 Washington #8 Martin #10 Washington #8 v Martin #10. The winner (Martin) was then effectively moved up to #1...that's a bit of a leap! Then COVID puts things on hold as you say. So 2021 we have #1 Martin #2 Usyk #3 Hunter #4 Hrgovic According to Hunter, Martin v Hunter was to be the final eliminator. But apparently Martin pulled out to potentily fight Wilder, and then Hrgovic was next in line, but then Hunter pulled out. So, in a sense, Hrgovic is owed the final eliminator, as he has been the only one happy to fight since last year. Just couldn't get an opponent. Martin should have really stepped up and fought Hunter, and is partly to blame for the mess. And Ortiz is in a somewhat fortuitous position given he wasn't even ranked at the start of 2020, and was ranked #9 before he beat Martin. So I suspect they will just make Hrgovic v Yoka a final eliminator.
Ortiz probably just forgot where he was for an instant. Give him a chance, at 277 years old these things happen from time to time. A cup of tea and some biscuits, and he'll be right as rain.
Someone should tell Dave Higgins that Parker is punching away with Fury today. So much for seeing a "specialist" before he starts punching again. Parker is actually punching hard and letting Fury hit him on the elbows. This content is protected
Yeah Higgins talks a lot of BS, never really thought Parker was injured. Same with Ortiz, maybe he's injured but it's amazing how everyone suddenly has an injury when they get mandated to fight Hrgovic. At least Hunter was honest and said he was following the money.
Hunter's reluctance to take the fight was extremely understandable. At the time he had recently been released by Matchroom and had no financial backing. Though he was getting 60%, he would have to fight on the card ran by the guys who just released him, for a relatively small purse. He and his fans already thought he got screwed on the cards against Povetkin, so there was no way he was signing up to be a patsy for Matchroom. Good for him. The real issue has been the string of bum fights he had after that
Ortiz loves to get injured, or forget how to operate a phone, or randomly lose contact with his management team every time his fake bogeyman persona is about to be called out.
Didn’t think Ortiz or Parker would take it. Didn’t expect Yoka to take it either. But It’d be kind of funny to see Ortiz forced to sit out for another year or maybe to retire if Ruiz ducks him again.