Victor Ortiz Fighting His Way into the Spotlight After Career Full of Setbacks
Victor Ortiz is back. On December 12 in San Antonio, Ortiz will face Mexican journeyman Gilberto Sanchez Leon on a Premier Boxing Champions card in Texas featuring Omar Figueroa vs. Antonio DeMarco.
"I'm pretty stoked," Ortiz told Bleacher Report. "It's here, thankfully. It feels good."
Ortiz has done it all. For all the criticism the 28-year-old former welterweight titleholder has received from fans and media for recent injuries and ring absences, he really has enjoyed a one-of-a-kind career.
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"Obviously, it's not a fun thing getting criticized and judged for something that you have no control of," Ortiz said, "but you have to take the heat, put it under and keep working harder to become better and greater."
Ortiz has captured a world title. He's participated in memorable slugfests, suffered incomparable setbacks and provided the boxing world with some of the more interesting and noteworthy moments in its long and colorful history.
How many will soon forget his 2009 Round 6 TKO loss to Marcos Maidana? Both men hit the canvas twice in that one, and Ortiz appeared so maligned after that, he questioned whether or not he even wanted to be a boxer anymore.
What about his controversial majority draw with Lamont Peterson a year later? The two rising stars put on a show, each man doing what he does best. Ortiz pressured and threw hard punches. Peterson boxed and counterpunched.
How about his title-winning scrap with Andre Berto in 2011? Now that was a rumble. It was so good, in fact, that it was awarded Fight of the Year by Ring magazine.
And wasn't the sucker punch he ate from Floyd Mayweather Jr. that same year one of the most fantastic and terrible things ever witnessed inside a boxing ring? Heck, that was this generation's Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield Bite Fight, the kind of reckless and brutal ridiculousness that could only happen in boxing.
Has there really been a fighter over the last few years as entertaining as Ortiz?
"Here we are, a few movies later, and I'm back in the ring," Ortiz said.
Yep, even Hollywood sees something in the guy. Ortiz has starred in movies opposite the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Jake Gyllenhaal. He's been on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. He's sat down with Piers Morgan and made morning show rounds with Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan.
And celebrity online tabloid TMZ can't get enough of this guy, either. His alleged brawl at a Kenny Chesney concert in Pasadena, California, has become legendary.
But can he return to top fighting form after suffering a broken jaw in 2012 and getting knocked out in his return fight against Luis Collazo in 2014?
Ortiz got back in the win column again late last year after suffering three consecutive knockout losses only to suffer a broken wrist that put his career back on ice for another 12 full months. Can he recover?
"Let me ask you this," Ortiz said. "You've made some crappy reports in the past. I'm sure. And you've gotten negativity. Negativity has crossed your way. Correct? It hasn't been a perfect past for you, has it? You use it to fuel yourself. You say, 'You know what? Screw you. I know what I'm capable of. I know what I'm going to do.'"
Ortiz is happy he's had a good career outside the ring, but he's anxious to get back to what he does the best.
"I've been very fortunate and very lucky to partake in all these things," Ortiz said. "At the same time, it's a situation where I've done that. You know? I sort of disappeared from the boxing world."
Ortiz doesn't just want to stay active. He wants to become a world champion again. At least, I think so. He wouldn't really answer that question directly.
"What do you think I'm doing right now? And why do you think I'm boxing?"
The implication, of course, is it's silly to ask why he's still plying his trade. (And maybe it is.)
Regardless, Ortiz is a little testy. In fact, at times, he seems downright defensive in an interview when even some of the most straightforward questions are asked about his topsy-turvy career. But at his core, he's a good fighter with star potential. He possesses charm and charisma, and with Mayweather's recent retirement, Ortiz could factor in the race to replace the longtime face of American boxing.
Heck, he even kind of has Mayweather's "me against the world" shtick down, doesn't he?
"It's just interesting to me how people can sit back and judge you on one particular performance," Ortiz said. "I guess in boxing, you are only as good as your last fight."
Let's see where Ortiz is after Saturday.
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.
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