Wladimir Klitschko’s shocking loss to Tyson Fury last month sprung the door wide open on the heavyweight division.
Fury is the man in the division by virtue of his win over Klitschko, but he’s regarded as a mediocre talent, at best, and not seen as a long-term champion.
There has been plenty of hope for Deontay Wilder, the WBC champion who defeated Bermane Stiverne nearly a year ago to win his belt. But the unwillingness of his team to put him in against anyone other than C-level opponents diminshes him greatly.
Wilder will fight Artur Szpilka on Jan. 16 on Showtime. On that card, Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov will meet Charles Martin for the IBF title that was stripped from Fury because he agreed to a mismatch.
Neither of those fights do much to generate fan interest or add to the significance of the belts.
And Saturday at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., Bryant Jennings will meet Cuban Luis Ortiz for the interim WBA heavyweight title in the main event of an HBO-televised card.
Jennings was routed by Klitschko earlier in the year, but Ortiz is an interesting case. Is it possible that he could emerge as the best of all of these guys and be the bridge to the young contenders like Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker?
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WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. (Photo by David A. Smith/Getty Images) There are negatives, to be sure. He’s 36, nearly 37, and doesn’t figure to have a long time left. He’s 23-0 with 20 knockouts, but has fought a frighteningly low level of opposition. He knocked out Matias Ariel Vidondo on Oct. 17 on the Gennady Golovkin-David Lemieux undercard to win the interim belt.
He showed fast hands and solid power, though Vidondo isn’t highly regarded so it’s difficult to tell.
Prior to that bout, his oppopnents since 2013 were Byron Polley, who entered the fight with Ortiz having lost five of his last seven; Lateef Kayode, a long-time cruiserweight; nearly 43-year-old Monte Barrett, who entered their bout 1-4-2 in his last seven; 39-year-old Alex Gonzales, who entered having lost six of his last eight; and Joseph Rabotte, who was 11-25-1 when he met Ortiz and had lost nine in a row.
It’s pretty clear that Ortiz hasn’t fought a Murderer’s Row of heavyweights, by any stretch. On top of that, he was busted for using performance enhanching drugs prior to his fight with Kayode. So there are plenty of reasons to be leery of Ortiz in terms of annointing him any kind of legitimate contender.
Yet, those fast hands are evident, and the power seems to be real. Jenninngs hasn’t reminded anyone of a young Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield. He’s a legitimate, solid professional heavyweight and isn’t the type to be overwhelmed like so many of Ortiz’s previous opponents.
Jennings also comes to fight, which figures to make the match interesting because Ortiz tends to be aggressive.
It should be a fun fight to watch. Whether Ortiz should be considered the real thing is another question entirely.
But if he can beat a quality vet like Jennings, it will say a lot. And, unlike many heavyweight fights these days, which seem to take place in slow motion, this one has promise.
So tune into HBO to watch. And if you temper your expectations and view it simply to see a fun fight that either guy can win, you likely won’t be disappointed.
But if you tune in hoping to see the next guy in the division, well, that could be a mistake.
