Victor Ortiz Aiming High in 2022
Ten full years have passed since welterweight boxer “Vicious” Victor Ortiz (32-7-3, 25 KO’s) staged the biggest fight of his career against Floyd “Money” Mayweather. Ortiz would go on to be knocked out in the fourth round. The stoppage came after a bizarre hugging sequence that was preceded by a glaring headbutt-foul instigated by Ortiz. This oddball conclusion was just one of many for Vicious Victor.
He famously quit when in against Marcos Maidana, was retired by way of a broken jaw facing the smaller Josesito Lopez, and was deflated and stopped in the second round by a Luis Collazo body shot, to name a few. Saddled with his reputation as a quitter and prone to layoffs, Ortiz has devolved into a complete non-factor in the division. Even worse, Ortiz lost a dreadfully dull match against Robert Guerrero on August 21. It was his first fight in three years.
SHOOT YOUR SHOT!
Outside of controversial, if there is anything that Ortiz can be labeled, it is optimistic. In all of the previous mishaps that he endured, Ortiz always retained a great attitude and bright smile. Keeping in tune with that same energy, Vicious Victor has taken to his social media to put his bid in for some major fights.
Certainly, many will accuse Ortiz of being impaired by an uncut batch of Frank Lucas’s Blue Magic for him to think that he has any chance to face Canelo Alvarez, Errol Spence or Terence Crawford. Come 2022 it will have almost been five years since he has enjoyed lodging in the win column. Mere mention of those bouts seems like potential material for the next Dave Chappelle comedy special. By the same token he should have a good shot at landing a bout with Jake Paul. The YouTube star has been staging a number of circus bouts and may see the benefit in facing the former top fighter and Expendables 3 movie star. Who knows?
THE BEST SHOT
Out of these names, Ortiz has the best chance at landing a prizefight with Danny “Swift” Garcia (36-3, 21 KO’s). Yet, Ortiz would more than likely have to take the fight at super welterweight. Garcia has made it known that making the welterweight limit is too taxing on him physically and he is ready to move up. Swift has also let it be known that he wants to get his feet wet before taking on the cream of the 154-pound crop. Following this line of logic, Team Garcia may be very open to staging a bout with a Vicious. Ortiz’s name is very recognizable to boxing fans and casuals alike. Swift could do a lot worse coming off his moral crushing unanimous decision loss to Errol Spence Jr.
For the time being though, we’ll just have to wait and see what’s next for Victor Ortiz. It’s just as likely that he gets a solid name as it is that he fades back into boxing obscurity. Either way, we should be in store for a few interesting episodes out of Ortiz in 2022!
Reading Time: 3 minutes
By: Bakari Simpson
