By: Sean Crose
Okay, the whole thing may not be entirely pay per view worthy, but tomorrow night’s Luis Ortiz-Charles Martin heavyweight scrap looks to at least be an entertaining way to celebrate the new year. While they might not be at the level of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, or Oleksandr Usyk (Joshua has already flattened Martin), each fighter basically knows this is an opportunity to show he’s still worthy of another shot at a world title (Who knows? It took Jersey Joe Walcott a good long time before he finally proved without a doubt he was deserving of the heavyweight crown). Again, it’s hard to argue this is pay per view material (which, sadly, it is not), but try imagine it as basic cable PBC bout to understand why it’s worthy of interest.
With an impressive record of 32-2, the Cuban schooled Ortiz is now reportedly 42 years old, though some wouldn’t be surprised if it came out the man was close to a decade older. He’s a good fighter, Ortiz, skilled and possessed of heavy hands. He also has determination to burn. Ortiz’s two losses have come at the thunderous fists of Deontay Wilder. If you take the name Tyson Fury out of the equation, you realize a loss to Wilder should be no source of shame. The Alabaman may well be the hardest hitting heavy in history.
As for Martin, with a record of 28-2-1 and at 35 years of age, he can boast of having held a world title – before Joshua came around, of course – which is impressive no matter how you look at it. He’s also lost to the tough Adam Kownacki, but anyone looking to worship at the altar of perfect records in this day and age is probably searching in the wrong era. Mayweather’s retired, after all, and Tyson Fury, Errol Spence, and Terence Crawford are basically the only fighters out there at the moment with perfect records who have actually been through the figurative fire. And, great as they are, perfect records aren’t the selling point they were during the reign of Mayweather.
Bottom line – Watching Ortiz-Martin would be a great way to spend the first evening of 2022 if it were on Fox’ flagship station instead of Fox pay per view. Sadly, watching this heavyweight throwdown now simply looks to be a decent way pass the night. Still, this is an interesting matchup, one I’m looking forward to.