Jamaine Ortiz signs with Top Rank, returns on Taylor vs Lopez undercard

After nearly ruining their plans last year, lightweight contender Jamaine Ortiz has officially joined forces with Top Rank, which will now co-promote him alongside CES Boxing. He’ll make his promotional debut on the June 10th Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez undercard against that old workhorse TBA.

Ortiz (16-1-1, 8 KO) put a tough draw with Joseph Adorno behind him to score back-to-back decisions over Nahir Albright and Jamel Herring, setting up an October showdown with Vasiliy Lomachenko. Ortiz came out red-hot, but proved unable to sustain his pace and ultimately fell short on the scorecards.

He’s clearly plenty skilled and has a lot of good years ahead of him at just 27. He recently lamented his inability to find more big fights, so hopefully this will go some ways towards getting him back on track.

Ortiz said, “It feels great to join a stable that has created so many Hall of Fame champions. I’m looking forward to becoming their next one. It’s been a long journey fighting my way up to get the respect I deserve. With Top Rank working with CES, I’m now hoping for bigger and better fights.

“It feels good to be back in New York to get some redemption after the loss to Lomachenko. I gained many new fans that night, and a lot of people thought I won. People know I’m the real deal now. I’m motivated to improve and take over the lightweight division. I only took 10 days off after that fight and went straight to the gym. I’m coming to make a statement on June 10 that I’m not to be played with.”