Luis Ortiz made a big statement with his December victory over Bryant Jennings. HBO will make sure viewers get to see Ortiz again, soon.
Plans are being finalized for the Cuban heavyweight to headline an HBO Boxing After Dark card on March 5 at the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C., persons with knowledge of the plan told USA TODAY Sports. The persons spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal isn’t done yet.
The co-feature will pit welterweights Sadam Ali and Jessie Vargas in an even-money bout that was originally in talks for December 2015. Golden Boy Promotions Vice President Eric Gomez, the lead promoter of the show, declined to comment.
Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) still doesn’t have an opponent, and there aren’t many fighters jumping at the chance to face the 6-4 southpaw. He’s high-risk, low-reward right now, but the fight does offer someone a chance for premium exposure. Ortiz knocked out Matias Ariel Vidondo in the third round on the pay-per-view undercard of Gennady Golovkin-David Lemieux in October.
The 36-year-old stepped way up in competition in his HBO network debut, and cruised to a seventh-round TKO of Jennings, a top-10 heavyweight. Oritz was able to hurt Jennings on several occasions and dropped the Philadelphian flat on his face before the stoppage.
A decorated amateur, Ortiz showed his immense boxing ability in the bout, and was even comfortable off his back foot. The interim WBA heavyweight champ, ranked No. 5 by Boxing Junkie, owes mandatory challenger Alexander Ustinov a bout, but that’s likely to come after this outing. Ortiz was active in 2015 after serving an eight-month suspension for using the banned substance nandrolone.
Vargas and Ali will both enter the bout off long layoffs. Vargas (26-1, 9 KOs) last fought in June, when he was outpointed by Timothy Bradley amid much controversy. The 26-year-old badly hurt Bradley in the waning seconds of the bout, but before he had the chance to finish him off, referee Pat Russell mistakenly halted the bout early. The former junior welterweight beltholder trained with the legendary Erik Morales for that bout.
Ali (22-0, 13 KOs) last fought in April, when he outpointed Francisco Santana. It was the 27-year-old’s second consecutive bout on HBO. The other one was a ninth-round KO of Luis Carlos Abregu in November 2014. The Brooklynite is ranked No. 9 at 147 pounds by Boxing Junkie, while Vargas is No. 10.
(Photo of Ortiz by Alex Menendez — HoganPhotos/Golden Boy Promotions)