By: Sean Crose
Louis Ortiz returns to the ring Saturday night when he faces Alexander Flores in a scheduled ten round main event match to be aired live on Fox. The last time Ortiz was in the ring, he was on the receiving end of Deontay Wilder’s vicious and patented heavyweight blows last year. It was his second loss to Wilder in a row, but Ortiz still feels he has what it takes to reach the top of the heavyweight division. Therefore, the 31 -2 fighter will be showing the world what he has – or has left – in his arsenal when he goes up against the 18-2-1 Flores.
While questions about Ortiz’ true age linger, there’s little doubt the man is a skilled and powerful boxer. HBO was high on him for a while, and no one can deny he gave Wilder all kinds of trouble in both of their matches. Should he perform well on Saturday, there’s still a chance – perhaps a good chance – that the hard hitting Cuban will get another shot at a major title. At the very least, Ortiz isn’t apt to bore viewers. His fights generally tend to be exciting and to make for some good viewing.
As for Flores – it’s hard to call the largely unknown Californian a slouch. He’s won all but two of his fights and those two losses were to Joseph Parker and the then undefeated Charles Martin respectively. His last fight was a stoppage win over Mario Heredia exactly one year to the day of this Saturday’s battle with Ortiz. Although Ortiz isn’t seen as being at the top of the heavyweight division, the fighter known as “King Kong” is a big enough attraction that a win for Flores might have a considerable impact on Flores’ career.
Also on Saturday’s card – which will be aired starting at 8 PM Eastern Time from LA’s Microsoft Theater – is a scheduled ten rounder between the 15-0 rising heavyweight Frank Sanchez and the 15-3 Brian Howard. Like Ortiz, Sanchez is originally from Cuba – though he now fights out of Vegas – and has the ability to turns out the lights, even though his last two fights have gone the distance. Howard has lost two of his last four fights, but in his last match scored a first round knockout over Carlos Negron. That battle was over a year ago. Should he manage to best Sanchez in his ring return, Howard might raise some eyebrows.