Luis Ortiz eager for shot to become heavyweight champ

Cuban heavyweight Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs) doesn’t receive half the fanfare as any of the heavyweight world champions, but he could in fact be the best of the bunch. Of course we’ll never know for sure until he gets his chance against the big names, and that’s exactly what Ortiz is hoping for.

"I want to fight the very best and I want to be the heavyweight champion of the world," Ortiz said. "I'm willing to fight anyone, any champion, any place, any time. I'm ready for anyone: Joshua, Wilder, Klitschko. I know I can beat all of them."

Ortiz recently bought out his contract with Golden Boy Promotions for $1.1M and quickly aligned with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, but whether or not that will lead him to the big fights he desires remains to be seen.

Hearn says that with Ortiz under his banner he plans on building him a profile where he can no longer be avoided, but with Ortiz already being 37, Hearn will probably have to expedite that process.

"We plan to keep him very busy and let the fans enjoy his devastating power. Luis is an avoided fighter, but we plan on giving him the profile that will make that impossible."

In the meanwhile, Ortiz is currently scheduled to face Malik Scott on Saturday and then will be featured on the Dec. 10 Anthony Joshua vs Eric Molina undercard.

I suppose in theory Hearn could easily line up a Joshua-Ortiz fight in the near future, but something tells me Hearn probably wouldn’t fancy that fight too much — product shelf life and all...