By: Sean Crose
“Training camp has been going really well,” heavyweight Alexander “The Great” Flores said during a Thursday conference call to promote his Saturday match with Louis “King Kong” Ortiz. “I’m always in shape year around. We were already aiming for a November fight, so when this fight against Ortiz presented itself, we jumped on it. We’re ready to take advantage of this opportunity.” The fight with Ortiz, which goes down at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and will be aired live on Fox at 8 PM Eastern Time, is scheduled for 10 rounds, and will be the headliner of a PBC card.
“Ortiz is a great fighter,” said Flores. “He’s still one of the most feared men in the division. A lot of the people on his level don’t want to fight him. His only losses coming against Deontay Wilder says everything about his quality.” Flores made it clear that he’s got to be at the top of his game when he faces Ortiz in the ring. “Whenever you fight at that caliber that Ortiz has been at,” he claimed, “I know you’re going to know what you need to do in training. But, the older you get, the harder it is to recover. It doesn’t get easier. Maybe his age will show up Saturday night.”
By the time Flores enters the ring to face Ortiz this weekend, it will be exactly one year since he competed as a professional boxer. That fight ended up being a TKO win for Flores against Mario Heredia. Before that, Flores suffered the second of just two career losses when he was knocked out in late 2018 by Joseph Parker. Yet, with a record of 18-2-1, the 30 year old Flores is feeling confident. Indeed, the man suspects his opponent this Saturday may be feeling a bit over confident.
“I do think it’s possible I’m being overlooked by Ortiz,” Flores said on Wednesday. “I’m just focused on what I can control. I know that one day I might not get these opportunities anymore, so I have to jump all over this one.” Should he emerge victorious on Saturday, Flores feels that big things may be ahead. “Beating Ortiz will put me up with the top heavyweights,” he stated on Thursday’s call. “I think a win is going to definitely lead to a world title fight sooner rather than later.”
Not that he’s looking past the feared Ortiz.
“I’m expecting the best Luis Ortiz on Saturday night,” he said. “I’m preparing for the same guy who was beating Deontay Wilder twice.”
