Luis Ortiz, the supremely talented heavyweight who came up through Cuba’s vaunted amateur system, has signed a promotional deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing after severing ties with Golden Boy Promotions. This is a move that could help Ortiz regain lost momentum.
As Tyson Fury upset Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua was skillfully guided to a world title trinket, Luis Ortiz — who many view as the most dangerous heavyweight in boxing — was forced to sit idle, which frustratingly wasted the momentum garnered from a sensational TKO of top contender Bryant Jennings on HBO in December of 2015.
Still, a title shot for the feared Ortiz appeared elusive, especially with Fury and former champion Wladimir Klitschko locked into a mandatory rematch, which has obviously since gone awry. But by signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, Luis Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs), who will fight Carlos Takam on November 12, finally has the inside track on some major fights.
Here are some details about Ortiz’s signing, courtesy of ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael:
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the signing comes six weeks after Ortiz’s camp paid $1 million to Golden Boy Promotions to buy out his promotional contract because they were unhappy with the agreement.
The signing comes as a bit of a surprise because Ortiz was close to signing a deal with Roc Nation Sports that would have commenced with an appearance on the HBO PPV undercard of the Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward light heavyweight title fight on Nov. 19 in Las Vegas.
Now Ortiz is with Eddie Hearn’s company, which could pave the way to an eventual fight with world titleholder Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs).
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It’s hard to imagine that Hearn will be overly eager to match Anthony Joshua and Luis Ortiz, especially with the fracturing of heavyweight titles following Tyson Fury’s positive drug test. Ortiz should be able to dust off some ring rust against fringe contender Carlos Takam, which could provide an intriguing springboard to a fight against someone like Dillian Whyte, who Ortiz should handle.
David Haye also lingers as an intriguing target on the UK heavyweight scene, and Europe in general is littered with capable, if unspectacular, big men. In any case, the point is that Luis Ortiz is probably better served with a UK promoter at this stage when it comes to fighting with any consistency.
A Joshua-Ortiz fight is mouthwatering from a fan’s perspective, and one figures that Joshua will take a major step up in 2017, whether it comes against David Haye, Waldimir Klitschko or Luis Ortiz. And with Joseph Parker zeroing in on the WBO title, Ortiz has another path to a major fight with Hearn at the helm of negotiations.
It should also be said that Luis Ortiz dodged a massive bullet by not signing with Roc Nation Sports, a promotional outfit that has a paltry track record of keeping its fighters active since it burst onto the scene with signings of Andre Ward and Miguel Cotto. At 37, Ortiz doesn’t have time to waste, and it’s likely that he will finally get the opportunity he deserves in 2017.
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