Two fighters with a lot to prove will meet in the ring on the undercard of Saturday night?s HBO pay-per-view event featuring ?Sugar? Shane Mosley and Sergio ?The Latin Snake? Mora. ?Vicious? Victor Ortiz (27-2-1, 21 KO) takes on ?Vicious? Vivian Harris (29-4-1, 19 KO), in a battle of two boxers who have gotten a sniff of the clear air near the top, only to be knocked down a few levels by hungrier competitors.
Ortiz seemed as if he was poised to make an attempt at following in Oscar De La Hoya?s large footsteps. He was a crowd-pleasing fighter that possessed knockout power in both hands, a killer instinct in the ring, and charm outside of it. Ortiz challenged for a share of his first world title in June 2010, when he and Marcos Maidana squared off for the right to hold the WBA Jr. Welterweight Interim title. It looked as if Ortiz would make quick work of the unpolished Argentinean, as he scored a quick knockdown in the first round. Maidana rose from the canvas and scored his own knockdown of Ortiz. Maidana was floored twice more in the second round, but rallied from behind to beat the fight out of Ortiz over the remaining four rounds. Ortiz quit in the sixth after a knockdown. He stood up, bruised, swelling, cut, and bloodied, and shook his head when asked if he wanted to continue. In his post-fight interview, Ortiz was asked about his decision to quit rather than continue. He made the critical error of responding that he didn?t deserve to take a beating like that. Those words have stuck with Ortiz ever since, and he must be left to wonder if he will ever be able to peel off the label of ?quitter?.
Ortiz?s rehabilitation has gone forward in small, measured strides. Aside from his ten-round unanimous decision victory over a blown-up and hobbled Nate Campbell, Ortiz hasn?t been thrown into the ring with a notable opponent that presented a mild danger. Antonio Diaz and Hector Alatorre were two hand-picked fighters; one past his prime, and another that probably won?t have much of a prime. Vivian Harris has enough punching power to present a considerable threat to Ortiz, and is a decent step up from Nate Campbell.
Five years ago, Vivian Harris was more than a stepping stone for a young fighter. Vivian Harris was considered one of boxing?s next stars. He was tall, boxed well, and had impressive punching power. When Harris defended his WBA title against Colombian brawler Carlos Maussa that fateful night of June 25, 2005, he was riding the momentum of a knockout win over WBA Jr. Welterweight champion Diosbelys Hurtado. Harris made the mistake of allowing himself to be lured into brawling with Maussa. Harris, for all of his troubles, wound up on the wrong end of a brutal seventh-round KO loss. He made his way back to a shot at the WBC title, only to be stopped by Junior Witter in the seventh round. Harris has been a pedestrian observer in the 140-lb division since the loss to Witter, scoring a KO win over a boxer with twelve fights, ending one fight in a no-contest due to a bad head butt, and losing via four-round stoppage to Lucas Matthysse in February of 2010.
I see a lot of symmetry in the careers of Ortiz and Harris, albeit a few years apart. Both were on the cusp of stardom when they recorded their second career loss, both by knockout, and in nearly the same round, and on nearly the same night, despite the four year separation (Harris was KO?d 6/25/04, Ortiz was KO?d 6/27/09). Most obviously, both men are nicknamed ?Vicious?, a shared moniker that has some calling for this fight to be for the right to be called, ?Vicious?.
Two of the similarities that I?ve noticed in these fighters can?t be seen on paper, they are only seen when watching the two boxers in the ring. The first being each man?s apparent unwillingness to exchange punches with his opponent. The second, and most likely the cause of the first, is that each man has had his weak chin exposed; Ortiz by Marcos Maidana, and Harris by Carlos Maussa. Ortiz still seems haunted by the memories of his losing battle with Marcos Maidana. The same seems fit to describe the timid Vivian Harris. Each man has never been the same since their first knockout loss.
For each man, Saturday presents an opportunity at a big step forward in his career. Victor Ortiz is again ranked number one by the World Boxing Association, the alphabet organization that offered up its vacant Interim title for he and Maidana to fight over last June. The first time around it didn?t work out as planned. Ortiz claims he is ready to take the next step towards being a champion. Vivian Harris can put himself in the conversation of title contenders with a win on Saturday night.
Both men should have ample motivation to step their games up and prove who the real ?Vicious? is. With the raw punching power afforded to each man, and the fragility of each man?s chin, it is a possibility that Oscar De La Hoya?s prediction will prove accurate; that this fight could steal the show on Saturday night.
