Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz possible for November 4th

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder could be defending his title at the Barclays Center against Cuban power-puncher Luis Ortiz.

Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) is reportedly going to defend his WBC heavyweight belt against Cuba’s Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (27-0-2 NCs, 23 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, November 4th. It would be considered a Premier Boxing Champions event on Showtime. BoxingScene’s Keith Idec had the initial report on Tuesday, and also noted that it’s also possible the fight will instead happen on October 14th at the same venue.

Wilder has fought just once this year, winning by TKO against late-notice opponent Gerald Washington in February. The only time Wilder has gone the distance in his pro career was against Bermane Stiverne, whom he took the WBC title from back in 2015. Stiverne is technically the mandatory challenger right now to face Wilder, so that bit needs to be sorted out, as it seems that Stiverne isn’t willing to take any step-aside money.

Ortiz is undefeated but has never fought for a major championship belt before. The 38-year-old holds notable stoppage victories over Bryant Jennings and Tony Thompson, but recently fought a scheduled eight-rounder against the UK’s David Allen, winning in the penultimate round by TKO. A month prior to beating Allen, he went the distance against Malik Scott in a one-sided, awful mess of a twelve-rounder. Of note, one of Ortiz’s no-contests came as the result of a positive drug test for nandrolone in a first-round beating of Lateef Kayode back in 2014.

This is definitely the best opponent the 31-year-old Wilder has fought in any of his title defenses. Ortiz is a consensus top-10 heavyweight with real power, good footwork, an effective jab, and he’s never been knocked down. In the absence of a Wilder vs. Anthony Joshua clash, this is one of the better matchups you could make at heavyweight.

By the way, if November 4th is the date for Wilder vs. Ortiz, it’ll be the same night as the UFC’s big pay-per-view event at Madison Square Garden. That’s going to be a super busy night for combat sports in New York City.