WBC orders Ortiz-Whyte eliminator

Dominic Breazeale’s status is up in the air

Luis Ortiz’s knockout loss to Deontay Wilder wasn’t the end of his title run, as the WBC have ordered “King Kong,” their #1 contender, to face #3 Dillian Whyte in an eliminator for a shot at Deontay Wilder.

This suggests that either #2 Dominic Breazeale is Wilder’s next opponent or they’re forming an eliminator queue.

Ortiz (28-1, 24 KO) went life-and-death with Wilder last month, surviving a fifth-round knockdown to batter “The Bronze Bomber” in a 10-8 seventh round. He ultimately succumbed to Wilder’s power in the 10th, down by one on all three scorecards.

Whyte (23-1, 17 KO), meanwhile, is coming off a triumphant destruction of Lucas Browne, extending his winning streak to seven since his loss to Anthony Joshua. He looked elite against Browne, but Browne was godawful in there even without Whyte’s help, so it may not be the best metric by which to assess this matchup.

It looks to be a terrific fight between two dangerous punchers. Early predictions?