Sweat pours down the face of heavyweight Luis Ortiz. He wraps up his training session at Tropical Park and without much rest sets out to answer questions about the subject everyone wants to know about: his potential fight against former world champion Andy Ruiz – which some expect to take place sometime in the summer, probably August.
King Kong knows that something is cooking, but he doesn’t know the details. No matter what happens, the date and the place will not take him by surprise and he promises to arrive in much better shape.
In his last fight, which took place in January, Ortiz had to overcome two knockdowns to score a knockout of former world champion Charles Martin.
“I am training that is what motivates me. I always wait for the call from my manager Jay Jimenez and I only hear comments from Andy’s father, they say it will take place on August 13. I am ready as if the fight were taking place tomorrow. They told me to train, to get ready is if there was a fight with Andy and here I am to shut his mouth and his father,” Ortiz said to George Ebro.
“I put faith in myself. I don’t go into the ring looking for money. I am looking for my dream, which is to be world champion. Andy has a lot of ego on him. In this sport of boxing, ego does not work. Here you have to throw shots, train hard and have good discipline. That is essential. I have that discipline and the punches will not be lacking. I’m going to throw them at him and whoever stands in front of me.
“My experience [in the sport] is still young. I’m ready to knock his head off. He has to take me down and knock me out. The fundamental thing is that I have the grace of God and angels. I am healthy and my mind is full of energy. I have more passion than Ruiz. I love boxing.”