Lara vs Castano results: Luis Ortiz wins wide decision over Christian Hammer

Heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz had to go the distance tonight with a game and durable Christian Hammer, but he won on deservedly wide scores over 10 rounds, keeping himself firmly in the mix for a world title fight later this year.

Ortiz (31-1, 26 KO) won on scores of 99-91, 99-91, and 100-90. BLH had the fight 98-92 and 99-91 for Ortiz.

Hammer (24-6, 14 KO) was outclassed here, as he has been in past fights with the likes of Tyson Fury and Alexander Povetkin, but he gave it his all. Early on, he tried to find Ortiz with big counter right hands, and he did appear to hurt Ortiz a bit in the second round, though Ortiz came back that same round to return the favor, smashing Hammer with a hard body shot.

For the most part, Ortiz worked behind a solid jab, outlanding and outboxing Hammer, leaving no question about the outcome of the fight.

“It was a hard fight. My corner did have to work hard with me,” Ortiz said after the fight, through an interpreter. Asked if he hurt his left hand in the fight, Ortiz said no, that there was “no problem with the hand.” He also said he wasn’t disappointed at all with his performance, as he felt he showed good boxing skills.

And, of course, the 40-year-old Cuban southpaw wants the biggest fights available.

“Every heavyweight out there can know that I’m still ready at 40. Joshua, Wilder, I’m ready!”

For the fight, Ortiz landed a very strong 49% (79 of 160) of his power punches, and 140 of 610 (23%) overall. Hammer landed 64 of 241 (27%) of his power shots, and 84 of 403 (21%) total punches, getting out-jabbed 61-20.