Victor Ortiz Is Vicious In the Ring But A Swell Guy Outside

Victor “Vicious” Ortiz, with a record of 24(19)-2-1, is indeed vicious in the ring but outside he is anything but.

Ever since Golden Boy Promotions picked Ortiz up and added the Kansas native to their stable, it was evident they were grooming the next poster boy for their multi-million dollar corporation. Their president, Oscar De La Hoya, went into an early retirement from boxing (actual fighting) thanks to the hands of Manny Pacquiao.

I am not one for quickly or naively buying into the hype, so when I saw Victor was being packaged and publicized as the next Oscar De La Hoya, I instantly had my doubts.

He began to win me over as a fan of his fighting when he knocked out Carlos Maussa in the first round. Maussa is a tough, heavy-handed fighter who was only previously stopped by Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, late in their fights.

The fight that really won me over was that with Mike Arnaoutis, a fighter who has never been stopped, who was easily destroyed and knocked out in the 2nd round of their fight.

So then of course came all the publicity of how Ortiz was supposedly the nicest man in boxing and his smile and personality could light up any press media room. It was like we, the boxing community, were being forced to believe that this man was the Tom Hanks of boxing. It made me wonder if this was the real Ortiz or just the one in front of rolling cameras, much like a campaigning politician.

Recently at the fights I was covering I had the privilege of meeting Ortiz in person and, to be completely honest, he is everything the media says about him. And then some.

The 22-year-old is good looking, sharp, highly likeable and has a smile that will indeed light up the entire MGM Grand. He is just one of those guys you have to like and root for. Outside of the ring he is totally humble and down to earth. Each fight that I bump into him at, he is solo without an entourage and willing to meet and take pictures with his fans.

He allowed one of my colleagues and myself to interview him and was more than willing to answer anything we threw at him. He was interested in where I was from and even asked me questions as well.

This is what boxing needs: a positive, likeable guy to root for, who is vicious in the ring but a totally swell guy outside of it. One must keep in mind that Ortiz came from a hard childhood where his parents abandoned him at an early age and he was forced to take the role of parent to his siblings when he himself was just a child. Yet you would never get that he had it so rough by the way he carries himself.

We asked Ortiz about a rematch with Marcos Maidana and he expressed his hope for a rematch to avenge his loss. But Maidana does not want to grant the rematch.

Ortiz is slated to fight in his comeback match against Antonio Diaz, 46(29)-5-1, on undercard of the Juan Diaz vs Paul Malignaggi II fight in Chicago at the UCI Pavilion on December 12th.