Expectations not overwhelming Ortiz
Overcoming The Odds
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There is a swelling aura of excitement surrounding Victor Ortiz, yet the wide-eyed 22-year-old junior welterweight seems unfazed by the attention and hype.
"I just try to push it away from me. I don't need that kind of pressure on me," said Ortiz, the 2008 ESPN.com Prospect of the Year. "I just kind of take it day by day and see where it all goes. I stay at the gym and keep my nose clean."
It would be easy, however, to understand if Ortiz's head began to swell. After all, he just might be on the verge of something special, and those around him can barely contain their exuberance.
Recently retired star Oscar De La Hoya, the head of Golden Boy Promotions, is one of them.
"Victor can be a champion in various weight classes. He can go very, very far," De La Hoya said. "He's young and still learning, but I think we are going to see a fighter filling my shoes in the next five years. Victor Ortiz is in a 140- or 147-pound division where he is going to have all those big fights in the next few years. The way you create big-name fighters is by fighting all the guys who can make big fights like I did. That's what Victor can do."
Not only is Ortiz the chosen one to carry the Golden Boy Promotions banner for years to come and the gem of co-manager Shelly Finkel's loaded stable of young fighters; he is also being positioned as a cornerstone of the next generation of fighters on HBO, which is featuring Ortiz in a current marketing campaign focusing on rising stars.
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer refers to Ortiz as "the total package."
"He really is a rising star of the sport," Schaefer said. "He has the million-dollar smile. He has the charisma. And he has, most importantly, the skills in the ring. … You say 'Victor Ortiz' and people are starting to take notice. HBO looks at him as one of the handful of fighters that can, and hopefully will, carry the sport in the coming years.
"So here he is. He is going to be fighting in downtown Los Angeles for his first world championship. He has been training in Oxnard where he always trains, and it's the first time he's going to be headlining on HBO. So this is a big moment for Victor. It's a big moment for the sport of boxing."
It is against that backdrop of lofty expectations that Ortiz (24-1-1, 19 KOs), of Oxnard, Calif., will step into the ring Saturday night (HBO, 10 ET/PT) in the main event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where only the biggest names in boxing have headlined. Now Ortiz will join a select group of fighters that includes De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Roy Jones to headline there.
Ortiz, groomed through his first 22 bouts by Top Rank before signing with Golden Boy last year, squares off with hard-punching Marco Maidana (25-1, 24 KOs) of Argentina in a scheduled 12-rounder for a vacant interim junior welterweight title.
"I really don't have any words to express the feeling that I have right now to be headlining such a big event," said Ortiz, who has arrived at the doorstep of stardom despite being abandoned, along with his older sister and younger brother, by his parents in Kansas as a child before finding his way to Oxnard and turning pro at 17.
Ortiz doesn't sound in awe of his position in boxing, but he's obviously excited.
"It's definitely something. When you're fighting and representing something so big and just doing what you came to do, it's really cool," said Ortiz, who easily moves back and forth between English and Spanish depending on a reporter's needs. "I can't even really explain it to you. There are so many different words I can use to describe what it's like to have this kind of opportunity. I am blessed to have an opportunity like this at such a young age and, I don't know … we'll see Saturday."
It could be a short but explosive fight, given their crowd-pleasing styles. Ortiz, a southpaw, is riding an eight-fight knockout streak in which seven of the stoppages have come inside five rounds, including a surprisingly easy second-round knockout of well-respected Mike Arnaoutis in Ortiz's March HBO debut. Maidana, who lost a debatable split decision to titleholder Andreas Kotelnik in February, has 21 knockouts inside three rounds.
"We're going to have some fun in the ring," Ortiz said. "We're going to dance with the devil a little."
Maidana sounded like he was also expecting a good, competitive fight.
"This is going to be a very, very tough fight. Victor is a very good boxer and very dangerous," said Maidana, 25, who will be fighting in the United States for the first time. "He is basically the same level as when I fought against Kotelnik. He's the same level. He's a very good boxer, and I feel that I'm a good fighter as well. We're in the same level, and I'm just anxious. I'm very, very anxious for the fight. I can't wait.
"I'm going to go out there and I'm going to test his punch to see if he's really as strong as they say he is."
Maidana believes his power will carry the day.
"Ortiz is a good fighter, but he's never tasted power like mine," he said. "Once I hit him, he won't want to fight with me. That's when I'll move in, take him out and take the belt back home to Argentina."
"This is the moment all fighters dream of, and I'm going to make the most of it," Ortiz said. "Maidana's got a good record and a lot of knockouts, but I'm not going to let him come into my backyard and beat me. That's just not happening."
Whatever happens, Ortiz insists he has tried to ignore the hype surrounding him and that none if it will mean anything if he does not win.
"It feels good, but at the same time I'm not here to hold on to anyone's expectations but mine," he said. "I'm only here to do my job and go out there and show the world that I did train hard for this fight. As far as people's comments and their two cents, you can listen to them all you want but at the end of the day it doesn't really make a difference. It's just a lot of talk."
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
