WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder will defend his title in September in a rematch against Luis Ortiz, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
“To all my fans, I want to announce that Luis Ortiz and I have signed for a rematch, with the date and site to be announced shortly. All my controversial fights must get dealt with ASAP,” Wilder wrote on social media, though there was no controversy associated with the first Ortiz fight.
Although the date and site were not announced, the fight is likely to land at Staples Center in Los Angeles, the same site where Wilder fought to an exciting draw with lineal champion Tyson Fury on Dec. 1. The rematch with Ortiz is likely to take place in September and on Fox pay-per-view, a source with knowledge of the plans told ESPN on Tuesday night.
“I expect it to be a hell of a fight again,” Wilder manager Shelly Finkel told ESPN, while declining to get into specifics of the date, location or broadcaster. “This guy is very dangerous. He’s a big puncher.”
“I think that Ortiz was one of the most avoided guys in the division. They called him the bogeyman and Deontay was the only guy who actively sought him out,” Jay Deas, Wilder’s trainer and co-manager, told ESPN. “Ortiz thought he would get a lot of opportunities for a big fight based on his performance against Deontay but he didn’t. He became more avoided. I commend Deontay for once again wanting to fight the guy nobody wants to fight.
“It was a challenge the first time. He’s technically so good and punches very hard and he has a wealth of experience. We got the job done with a less-than-ideal camp. Deontay was under the weather going into the fight. So I feel really good about the rematch. I think it’s a great fight and a great fight for the fans.”
ut it is not the fight with Joshua.
“That’s never been our fault,” Deas said about a fight which both sides have at times tried to make happen. “We offered Joshua $50 million and it was real and they said no and they offered us $15 million and we said yes and they still decided not to do the fight. It’s clear who has wanted the fight. I like to deal with no games. With Ortiz, no games. With Fury, no games. With Breazeale, no games.”