Victor Ortiz-Josesito Lopez to collide for vacant WBC Silver welterweight title – Boxing News
Victor Ortiz, the former WBC welterweight champion, has now been scheduled to take on Josesito Lopez, the former NABF light welterweight champion, in a 12-round bout with vacant WBC Silver welterweight title up for grabs.
The bout will be televised live on June 23, 2012 and unfortunately, this will be second time that Ortiz’s opponent has been changed. Victor was originally scheduled to take on Andre Berto in February but the bout was cancelled since the latter received a
bicep injury.
Berto made a comeback after recuperating from the injury and was scheduled for the second time to take on Ortiz on June 23 but again the bout got cancelled. This time it was Andre’s mistake as he was found guilty of using illegal drugs.
Now Lopez has been scheduled to take on an equally competent and talented Ortiz. The duo recently met at the pre-bout press conference and shared their thoughts about the upcoming engagement.
Lopez and Ortiz both have been in the same number of bouts and interestingly both have grabbed the same number of wins as well. The duo has been in a total 24 bouts and emerged victorious in 29.
The difference lies in the knockout and win ratio. Ortiz has nailed a huge 22 men by knockout whereas Lopez has grabbed 17 wins via KO. Moreover, Lopez has lost four bouts whereas Ortiz has received just three career losses.
During the media interaction, Lopez shared his excitement and stated, “I’m excited about this opportunity. I’ve been in training and working hard. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I plan to take advantage of it. When I heard I was a front runner
to fight Victor Ortiz I was excited.”
It must be kept in mind that Lopez was also originally scheduled to take on someone else that is Kendall Holt. Holt forfeited the June 22, 2012 bout due to unexplained reasons and Golden Boy Promotions were left with no other choice but to place both Ortiz
and Lopez against each other.
Victor, also known as ‘The Vicious’, while expressing his views commented, “It’s too bad (that Berto failed the drug test), but at the end of the day we have to prepare for another champion, and that’s Josesito Lopez. Lopez is a warrior and I know he’ll
come to fight. He is in the same shoes I was in a year ago against Berto.”
The odds are truly 50-50 on both sides as both pugilists are young, talented, and have grabbed an almost equal amount of success in their long thriving career. The initial rounds will tell as to who has the upper hand and who will come out victorious.
Ortiz has a slight upper edge over Lopez in the manner that he is a southpaw whereas Lopez is a right-handed jab thrower. At the same time, Lopez has a slight upper hand in height as it will aid him in covering a bit wider range.
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