It looks like Jared Anderson is finally ready to expand his horizons. Only four years have passed since his professional debut. In 17 fights, the 24-year-old Ohioan remains undefeated and holds two regional titles. Last week, he successfully defended his belt for the third time. A natural train of thought, then, would suggest that The Real Big Baby could move on to new ventures, such as the next series of battles under a more authentic name.
Although unconfirmed, early reports suggest that the WBC-USNBC and WBO heavyweight champion has clearly expressed excitement about facing Luis Ortiz. The latter is a former interim heavyweight champion and twice challenged Deontay Wilder’s WBC title. He returned to the ring in January of this year after a two-year break.
Jared Anderson vs. Luis Ortiz: An exciting lineup, but…
Michael Benson of talkSPORT reports that “Jared Anderson has welcomed an invitation from Luis Ortiz to fight in his next fight,” and last Saturday, April 13th, Anderson defeated Ivorian-born Belgian boxer Ride Mercy by unanimous decision. He won by decision. With nearly 15 of his 17 wins coming by knockout, ‘The Real Big Baby’ provides a reliable deterrent against fellow hard hitter Luis Ortiz. The 45-year-old Cuban seems interested in returning to the big screen.
Jared Anderson has welcomed a call-out from Luis Ortiz for his next fight.
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) April 15, 2024
This news seems to have received a variety of reactions from fans and followers. This naturally surprised some people who brought up Ortiz’s age. This user probably joked, “I bet.” Lewis is now approaching 65 years old. And some wanted a match with Frank Sanchez, another much younger Cuban heavyweight. For example, “I fought Luis Ortiz a few months ago. He’s an active but still dangerous puncher. It wasn’t a bad fight, but I would have liked to have seen him fight Frank Sanchez as well.”
But as the saying goes, style breeds conflict. So when two boxers known for stopping most of their fights face off, there’s likely to be some fireworks.
‘King Kong’ can still hurt people
Born in Camaguey, Cuba, Luis Ortiz made his professional debut in February 2010. Five years later, he won a series of regional titles before he finally broke out and became interim WBA heavyweight champion in October 2015. Two months later, he successfully defended his title. About a year later, he defeated Deontay Wilder’s current trainer Malik Scott by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBA Intercontinental heavyweight title. Two years later, he challenged the “Bronze Bomber” for the WBC title. However, this adventure ended in disaster as Wilder knocked him down in the 10th round, suffering the first loss of his career to Luis Ortiz.
On November 23, 2019, “King Kong” once again challenged Deontay Wilder for his second shot at the world title. Only this time the Beijing Olympic bronze medalist defeated him in the seventh round. Luis Ortiz won his next two matches with early stoppages. However, on September 4, 2022, Andy Ruiz Jr. handed the Cuban-born heavyweight boxer his third loss. This year, in his return match on January 13th, he defeated Francisco Cordero of Colombia in the first round.
It remains to be seen how a win over Ortiz will benefit Anderson. A victory over the aging Cuban boxer could help seal his legacy. However, as some users suspected, moving up the rankings will only be possible if he competes with top contenders like Frank Sanchez and Daniel Dubois.
How do you rate the possibility of a duel between Jared Anderson and Luis Ortiz? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
