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Rather than sit on the sidelines while rival Alexander Povetkin recovers from COVID, Dillian Whyte recently made clear his desire to stay busy, calling out a number of heavyweight contenders. One of them, former interim WBA champion Luis Ortiz, claims he’s game.
Manager Jay Jimenez tells Sky Sports:
“I guess Dillian was calling his name and other names, and he reached to me and asked me, ‘Look, if that’s true, I would like to step in the ring with him. That would be a great fight.’ I told him that I would find out. I think yeah, that would be a great fight. Luis Ortiz would love to take that fight. I say January, February [Ortiz could be ready].”
Ortiz (32-2, 27 KO) has fought just once since his unsuccessful rematch with Deontay Wilder in November of last year, needing just 45 seconds to finish Alexander Flores in a farcical mismatch. He’s still no walk in the park, even at 41 years old , so Whyte (27-2, 18 KO) deserves some credit if this ends up being more than empty bluster. I certainly wouldn’t object to watching these two slug it out.