Highly promising junior welter Victor Ortiz takes on his most difficult test so far when he meets Ghana’s experienced and capable Emmanuel Clottey in the 10-round chief supporting bout on the Versus show on Thursday.
Ortiz, from Oxnard, CA, gave a devastating performance in his last fight when he blew out Maximino Cuevas in the opening round. He is essentially unbeaten, his only loss coming by DQ against a boxer he was on the verge of knocking out — he landed a punch deemed to have been delivered on the break.
“Vicious” Victor has the ring maturity of a boxer much older than his 20 years and he seems on course for big things. He can box, punch and fight, a southpaw with a classy variety of punches. In order to move to the world-class level, though, he has to be able to overcome fighters such as Clottey, a 33-year-old New York-based Ghanaian who has won six of his last eight fights.
Clottey was in a similar sort of fight a few years ago when he met the talented Panchito Bojado in an HBO-televised 10-rounder: he lost the unanimous decision but made Bojado work for the win.
Perhaps Clottey is best known for his dramatic last-round knockout victory over the previously unbeaten Olympic gold medallist Mohamad Abdulaev, who won almost every round before suddenly getting tired, which gave Clottey the chance to catch him with a series of well-placed shots.
Normally, though, Clottey is not known to be a very hard hitter — seven of his last nine wins were on points. My impression of Clottey has been that he is a good, workmanlike type of fighter who tends to fight in spurts. He seems quite durable — just one loss inside the limit, six years ago. Clottey lost to the veteran Germaine Sanders in his last fight, though, and he has boxed just three times in the past two years, which makes me wonder if he still has tremendous enthusiasm for the game.
So, while this is a step up for Ortiz I think it is a step he should be able to take in his stride. I am expecting a fight similar to Clottey’s bout with Bojado, with the up-and-coming fighter getting hit by some right hands and having to solve some problems but overall being too young, quick and sharp for the older, more seasoned man — what in Britain they would call a good learning fight.
Ortiz, from Oxnard, CA, gave a devastating performance in his last fight when he blew out Maximino Cuevas in the opening round. He is essentially unbeaten, his only loss coming by DQ against a boxer he was on the verge of knocking out — he landed a punch deemed to have been delivered on the break.
“Vicious” Victor has the ring maturity of a boxer much older than his 20 years and he seems on course for big things. He can box, punch and fight, a southpaw with a classy variety of punches. In order to move to the world-class level, though, he has to be able to overcome fighters such as Clottey, a 33-year-old New York-based Ghanaian who has won six of his last eight fights.
Clottey was in a similar sort of fight a few years ago when he met the talented Panchito Bojado in an HBO-televised 10-rounder: he lost the unanimous decision but made Bojado work for the win.
Perhaps Clottey is best known for his dramatic last-round knockout victory over the previously unbeaten Olympic gold medallist Mohamad Abdulaev, who won almost every round before suddenly getting tired, which gave Clottey the chance to catch him with a series of well-placed shots.
Normally, though, Clottey is not known to be a very hard hitter — seven of his last nine wins were on points. My impression of Clottey has been that he is a good, workmanlike type of fighter who tends to fight in spurts. He seems quite durable — just one loss inside the limit, six years ago. Clottey lost to the veteran Germaine Sanders in his last fight, though, and he has boxed just three times in the past two years, which makes me wonder if he still has tremendous enthusiasm for the game.
So, while this is a step up for Ortiz I think it is a step he should be able to take in his stride. I am expecting a fight similar to Clottey’s bout with Bojado, with the up-and-coming fighter getting hit by some right hands and having to solve some problems but overall being too young, quick and sharp for the older, more seasoned man — what in Britain they would call a good learning fight.
No comments:
Post a Comment