Heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield aired his views to WBN on this weekend’s massive heavyweight battle between Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz.
Wilder and Ortiz collide in a rematch of what was a standout first meeting back in March of 2018.
Ortiz rocked Wilder before running out of gas. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ was able to get the Cuban out of there late on.
Discussing the fight, Holyfield is sure the pair can put on a good show once again.
In describing the pair, ‘The Real Deal’ made a comment comparing Ortiz to Briton Anthony Joshua.
“Deontay is a very confident and serious guy,” Holyfield exclusively told World Boxing News. “I just don’t know if I’d have given Ortiz another fight.
“This is down to the fact he’s professional and real good, other than Anthony Joshua. I wouldn’t even so much as say that Anthony Joshua is better than him – skill-wise.
“Ortiz has been doing it for a long time and nobody would fight him, which is kinda sad. He’s a good fighter and so nobody wants to fight you.
“They call him ‘King Kong’, and the thing, is he’s a good fighter but don’t none of these people support him for the Cuban’s to come to his fight (against Wilder).
“Even though you’re a good fighter because you don’t draw big crowds’ people don’t want to fight you. They don’t have to because you don’t put bums on seats. But if you put butts on the seats, it’s different.
“If he lives in London and everybody likes him (like Joshua) then they pull the seats up ‘cos he’s going to knock people out’. It’s not going to be a fight that isn’t no good.
“He fought Deontay and Deontay clocked him good. He also clocked Deontay. But the point of the matter is, he had to fight hard that fight and ran out of gas which caused him to break.
“That’s the art of the game, when you’re a big puncher you risk a chance of getting knocked out too. He was close to having that guy out.”
HEAVYWEIGHTS
Asked for his view on the current heavyweight division, Holyfield concluded: “I think it’s probably at a high right now because it’s exciting with the guys we have at the top.
“You have a guy when you talk about Deontay, you got someone bringing something new into the boxing game. He will always do a few things right.
“When he went too straight (in his style), he then learned how to throw a (mean) left hook. He really doesn’t have an inside game but he is confident and can get you at any time.
“You then have a new heavyweight champion in Andy Ruiz Jr. so it’s exciting.”
Phil Jay is Editor of World Boxing News and an Auxiliary member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay (article transcribed by Assistant Editor).