Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
On Saturday, March 5, 2016, Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs) delivered another knockout performance on HBO’s Boxing After Dark as he stopped Tony “The Tiger” Thompson (40-7, 27 KOs) in Round 6.
4,585 fans packed the DC Armory to see Ortiz take on Washington DC’s own Thompson. The partisan crowd was hoping to see their hometown fighter scrape up some last bit of magic and shake up the division, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Instead, Ortiz did exactly what he was supposed to do, scoring three knockdowns in a fight that resembled a sparring session for most of the night.
“He’s a fighter with a lot of experience and I wanted to see what he could bring to the table,” said Ortiz, who didn’t seem to have to kick it into high gear all night.
Though the bout got off to a slow start, it looked as though Thompson wouldn’t make it past the first three minutes after he was dropped hard near the end of the round.
“He is strong as advertised,” said Thompson who managed to pull himself up and survive the first.
It was only after a slew of contenders had turned down the fight against Ortiz that Thompson was given a call, and at 44 years old he didn’t have much left in the tank to push Ortiz.
“It’s sad that my hometown got to see me at the end of my career versus at the peak of my career,” said Thompson.
“I just think it would have been a much better fight with prime Tony Thompson.”
Ortiz finally ended things in Round 6 with a monstrous left hand, sending Thompson crashing to the canvas.
The Real King Kong now sets his sights on landing a spot on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan card, but it remains to be seen if a quality opponent will step up and fight him.
“I’m hungry, I’m ready for the champion let’s do it,” said Ortiz.
“I’m ready for the next fight now, if one of them wants to jump into the ring now I can do 15 more rounds.”
Many boxing pundits see Ortiz’s age as the only drawback, though the Cuban’s team continues to stress the fact that although their man may be 36 years old on paper, physiologically he’s much younger.
When talking with Ortiz, it’s clear to see that he eats, sleeps and breathes boxing.
“I’m a serious guy, boxing is my job, my passion, I’m committed 100 percent,” said Ortiz.
“I won’t go to the gym on Monday because my manager and my trainer won’t let me. But if it was up to me I would go in. I work, I train, I spend time with my family. That’s all I do.”
When reporters threw potential names at him, Ortiz didn’t shy away from any champion–including Lucas Browne who defeated Ruslan Chagaev earlier on Saturday for the WBA Heavyweight title.
“It doesn’t matter who it is, I’ll fight anyone,” said Ortiz.
Who would you like to see Luis Ortiz face next?
