Victor Ortiz was interviewed by BoxingScene.com's Ryan Burton, and it's one of the strangest interviews I have ever read.
BoxingScene: Its been a while since we have spoken Victor. Tell me what is new with you?
Victor Ortiz: Not much. I actually experienced my first summer just having fun and enjoying myself. You know other than having this cast it was pretty cool.
BoxingScene: A cast...what for?
Victor Ortiz: I had surgery on my right wrist. It was shattered two weeks before my last... oh never mind it was shattered.
BoxingScene: You knocked Maidana down three times with a shattered wrist?
Victor Ortiz: That is what I heard. I can't really comment on that fight. I don't really recall. I recall something and that was a straight right that I ran into and after that it just shut down my computer for the night. I was good though. I guess I was good (laughing).
It would seem amazing that Ortiz would fight with a shattered wrist. Absolutely amazing. It would seem amazing that Golden Boy would let him fight with a shattered wrist. HBO's June 27 date had already taken a hit when John-Juarez II was postponed. A shattered wrist probably would have postponed the entire card.
Doesn't this also seem like one hell of a corny setup? "How was your summer?" "Pretty great, except for this cast I have..." "A CAST?! Whatever for?!" "Why, I shattered my -- oh, I shouldn't say!" "No, spill the beans!" "WELL, SINCE YOU INSIST..."
BoxingScene: What about the rumor of you returing to action in December?
Victor Ortiz: Definitely. I never left you know. I guess some things were kind of misinterpreted by our good ol' friend Max. I never quit. I never turned my back on the sport. I love boxing. That is what I have been doing since I was a youngster.
First of all, I really dislike when people say "good ol'," but that's not the point here. Max didn't misinterpret anything, neither did anyone else. Ortiz quit in the fight, and then made statements afterward like "I don't deserve to be getting hit like that," and "I have a lot of thinking to do." Gee, how could someone think he might be having second thoughts about a career in boxing?
He's also claiming that Maidana won't fight him again:
BoxingScene: So Maidana doesn't want to fight you?
Victor Ortiz: Nope.
BoxingScene: So are you calling him out?
Victor Ortiz: I tried a few times already. It isn't working. It's OK though, it's not a big deal.
I would welcome a Maidana-Ortiz rematch, because off-putting ending or not, it was a hell of a war. If he really wanted a Maidana rematch, why are we hearing about it a couple days before October begins, when Maidana is looking to fight in November? I can't say that Ortiz and Golden Boy didn't seek a rematch. Ortiz says they did. But generally speaking, things like rematch call-outs hit the press, either because the guy calling someone out takes it to the press, or his trainer does, or the promotional company releases a statement about it, or whatever.
I wouldn't question this at all, because a rematch might well be the absolute best thing for him. Shake the demons off and all that. But he's also claiming shattered wrists now, so who knows? I hope he does come back strong, because he's got a lot of talent and makes for good, exciting action fights. But given the way his fight with Maidana turned out and the aftermath, he's going to have to answer the questions in the ring.