Headlining a card in Mexicali, Baja California on April eighteenth. Ten rounds at super welterweight Ortíz was a once highly touted prospect heavily pushed by HBO during his initial rise, which lasted from his debut just shy of 21 years ago until his loss against then little known Marcos René Maidana (prompting the American to utter the now infamous line "I'm too young & pretty to be out here getting beat up like this"). He would rebound with 22 months of moderate success until capturing the WBC world welterweight title against Andre Berto - just to drop it in his first defense that fall by way of a so called "sucker-punch" KO at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2011. Since then, it's been fits & starts - with a 4-4-1 record to show for it and long stretches of inactivity. Most recently he managed to hang on and claim a UD over .500 journeyman Todd Anthony Jermaine Manuel despite being dropped in the last round. Páez Jr. like Ortíz also hasn't fought since 2022 and like Ortíz he also debuted about two decades ago. The similarities pretty much end there. With his father a famous Mexican boxer - the nation's clown prince of the sport for a long time - he suffered the same fate as so many second generation fighters, relegated to unfairly outsized expectations he came far short of measuring up to. Unlike the charismatic and telegenic Ortíz, promoted heavily and groomed for stardom, Páez Jr. found himself slogging through a tough domestic scene with mixed results - scoring upsets over the likes of JLC and some A-side prospects but over time becoming more of an "opponent". He would mature into a solid gatekeeper - and even managed the pyrrhic victory of dropping the iron-chinned Antonio Margarito during a UD loss in 2017. Common opponents: Vivian Harris - lost via KO3 against Ortíz in 2010, defeated Páez Jr. via SD in 2014. Lee De Leon - lost via TKO2 against Ortíz in 2004 and via TKO2 against Páez Jr. in 2005. Not on BoxRec for some reason, but it's happening. Television coverage TBA.
Yeah...my confident pick would be Ortíz by KO, but a couple of things give me pause (the late knockdown by Todd Manuel, and the fact that when he wants to Páez can bust out a superpowered corker, as versus Marg) I think Under might be the safest bet tbh.
So, a couple of weird things. Number one, this is a 5 round contest for no discernible good reason. Number two, a movie is apparently coming out about about the outside-the-ring rivalry between Jorge Páez Sr. and Julio César Chávez. (the pair of Mexican legends never fought; but their sons did. Jorge Páez Jr. defeated Omar Chávez twice...)
