What Really Happened (Deontay Wilder vs Luis Ortiz 2)

They did achieve more than Jennings, but that’s not the point. Many say Ortiz looked bad against some of his previous opponents before he fought Wilder, but he didn’t look any worse against them than Whyte did against Helenius, Dave Allen or Parker looked against Razvan Cojanu(who got iced by Ortiz). And the reason I mentioned Jennings is because people say Ortiz gets overrated because of his KO win over Jennings, yet Jennings is a same level HW as Carlos Takam who gave Parker fits. Hence Ortiz was just as a credible and dangerous challenger as the other two, that’s point I was making.

Your second paragraph confirms that Wilder wanted the Fury rematch, and wanting to rematch a guy who proved that he’s more than capable of beating him proves that he’s no longer the cherrypicker he once was, no longer protected.

 

I don't think he could avoid the Fury match if he wanted to now is what I was getting at. The reaction to his 'draw' was pretty extreme in a lot of quarters and with his past definitely considered a factor he'd have people quacking at him wherever he went if he showed any kind of reluctance to rematch Fury. Him nearly KOing Fury and Fury looking vulnerable against Wallin prob gave him a bit more confidence in getting the W in a rematch too.

As for Jennings, I think Takam prob beats him comfortably had that fight ever been made. As for Parker Cojanu that was with Parker needing surgery on both elbows - hard to really compare his fight with Ortiz's.

 

I understood what you said about Fury rematch, but I disagreed with it. Spence and PBC fanboys have been saying that he has no reason to face Crawford because Bud signed with TopRank, so Wilder’s excuse was there if he wanted to avoid the fight.

As for Jennings and Takam, they’re bang on the same level on every single aspect of the game. Two hard workers, both would fight anyone and give a competitive fight to anyone, but lack the pedigree and power to cut it at top level. Both of their best performances are their losing efforts(for Jennings It’s Wlad, Ortiz, Joyce and Rivas and for Takam It’s Joshua, Povetkin, Chisora. Although Jennings has that W over Mike Perez who Takam got a draw against, albeit a controversial draw). They’d be 50/50 matched right now or at any point in this decade.

 

It would be nice to see Ortiz fight someone with a pulse in his next fight so we might get a gauge on where he's actually at as a fighter right now. Fact is, Wilder is the only top line guy he's ever fought professionally, and though he looked quite good in those fights, could we not say the same for most of DW's opponents prior to them seeing stars?

Jennings is the win on Ortiz's resume that stood out when it happened, but that was years ago and it isn't as if Bryant was up to much (overrated at the time due to going 12 with an ageing Wlad - who himself was schooled by Fury months later). Even Ortiz's amateur record isn't what it's cracked up to be.

So obviously he isn't the mythical boogeyman he was built up as by Wilder boosters, but that isn't to say he isn't one of the division's best. I'd just like to see him mix it up with others in the top 10 (preferably before receiving his pension) so I can judge for myself - Wilder alone isn't evidence enough given his own sparse record.

Kownacki's about the only interesting fight left for Ortiz with PBC...unless Ruiz loses to AJ maybe. I'd like to see him get into the mix at Matchroom. Whyte, Parker, Usyk, Hunter, Hrgovic; all interesting potential fights.

 

Spence and PBC fanboys whilst very vocal, are only a small proportion of boxing fans and in a distinct minority in peddling that BS. Spence won his title on the road against a respected champ in Brook and still retains a level of credit with fans that Wilder never had due to his route to a title and defences bar Ortiz and Fury.

 

It still doesn’t make it okay. Spence is ducking Crawford and Wilder would be ducking the Fury rematch if he used the network as an excuse to avoid the fight. In fact, Wilder’s(and PBC’s) willingness for the rematch shows that Spence, Haymon and their fanboys are full of it.

 

And I'm saying the wider world would judge Wilder a lot more harshly than they have Spence if he tried to trot out the same excuse.

 

Agree to disagree. Luckily both Wilder and Fury want it for next february so we’ll never know how Wilder would be judged had he avoided it.