Victor Ortiz and the Rebirth of American Vicious

On Saturday night, HBO will televise from Los Angeles, the return of boxing’s most exciting young star.  “Vicious” Victor Ortiz returns to take on Marcos Maidana of Argentina for the WBA junior welterweight interim championship.

Ortiz represents the rebirth of American vicious.

Many times people associated with a certain sport want to dub someone the next “this,” or the next “that.”  Oftentimes they even ascribe a name from the past to the young prodigy.  

For instance in the recent past we’ve seen LeBron James be called the next Michael Jordan in basketball, Tom Brady the next Joe Montana in football, Ronaldino the next Ronaldo in futbol. 

Similarly, I’ve seen Ortiz compared to Oscar De la Hoya.  I can see why, but it’s not even close.  They’re both of Mexican-American descent and they both use their dominant hand as their lead.

That’s it.  That’s where the comparisons should end. 

For anyone who’s familiar with the back story of Ortiz, they know the difference.  For those who don’t know, it’s a sad tale of a broken family in Middle-America.  It’s the kind that fosters an Omni-present hunger and rage that’s best harnessed inside the squared circle.

Boxing is the way out.  It’s the same incentive that’s driven men for generations to fight and/or risk their lives for a chance at something better.  These men of yore, Ortiz included, have fought their way to a better life. 

I’ve never met Ortiz, but I know him.  I’ve never communicated with him in one way or another, but I feel a certain fraternal bond.  Anyone who has ever struggled mightily in their youth can appreciate this bond.  His past is one that’s come to be all too familiar in our country; it’s the precipice of his success that gives me hope. 

I’m all too familiar with the despair of poverty.  It remains on a person’s soul like a stain.  While in the throes of poverty it sits on the shoulders of its victims like a demon, weighing them down, weakening them. 

It’s haunting and when you think you’ve finally shed it, it lurks around every corner.  It’s a monster filled with despair and anger and its tentacle-like fingers grasp deep and wide into the psyche. 

My family was very poor for a very long time.  But at least I had my parents.  Both of Ortiz’ parents abandoned him and his siblings at one point or another, forcing them into foster care.  And he still made it. 

The desire to fight is obvious when Ortiz is in the ring.  He carries the cool demeanor of an assassin while firing off stiff, accurate combinations.  Yet, simmering just under the calm is a burning fire.  You can see the change in his eyes or a slight sneer through gritted teeth, a flaring of his nostrils…the snarl of vicious. 

The two aforementioned personalities of Ortiz were juxtaposed perfectly in his last fight, which was supposed to have been his stiffest challenge to date, “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis, whom he finished inside of two rounds.

The cool, calculating precision, gave way to the controlled savage frenzy to finish his opponent.  “Mighty” Mike never stood a chance.  Neither does Maidana on Saturday night.  Sure, you’ll hear from the pundits and people who get paid to voice their opinions tell you that the fight is 50/50. 

I guess all fights are 50/50, be it in the ring or life in general, and Maidana did fare very well in a close decision loss to WBA champion, Andreas Kotelnik, a few months back.  Maidana is known as a good, tough, young fighter. 

But Kotelnik ain’t Ortiz. 

In the game of boxing anything can happen, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that Maidana can upset Ortiz.  But it’s entirely possible that after Ortiz wins, he’ll fight a bigger fight, against, I don’t know, Edwin Valero, Timothy Bradley or even Andre Berto.

We should be excited for Ortiz because he represents simultaneously represents hope and despair.  We should be excited because he is the exact kind of fighter boxing fans want.  He has a fan friendly style and he’s intelligent, yet doesn’t say much when interviewed.

My prediction for the match between Ortiz and Maidana is that Ortiz will end it inside of ten and in a vicious fashion. 

Poverty transcends and envelopes all races and all nationalities.  We, as boxing fans from around the world could and should get behind Ortiz. 

I'm sure many of us can relate to his struggles.