The man known as “King Kong”, Luis Ortiz, made his return to The Staples Center once again taking on Travis Kauffman. Ortiz entered this fight coming off a stellar knockout victory over Razvan Cajanu back in July.
Kaufman was a bit of a step up in competition for Ortiz who since his dramatic loss to Deontay Wilder, is on a warpath to get back in title contention.
The fight played out just as one would expect. Ortiz controlled the pace early with stiff power jabs that set up the straight left at times, rocking Kauffman’s head back.
Kaufmann proved to be a tough competitor throughout the night. Ortiz picked his shots clinically while Kauffman played it safe and circled the ring avoiding King Kong at all costs. Through five, it was all Ortiz and in the sixth, Ortiz found his mark and dropped Kaufmann.
Ortiz immediately ran to the neutral corner and pounded his chest thinking he had secured the victory but Kauffman rose to his feet with a smile on his face. Kauffman was able to survive the round despite Ortiz looking for the knockout.
Kauffman found himself on the canvas once again in the eighth, this time taking the full eight count but yet again rising to his feet. This time around, Kauffmann raised his hands welcoming Ortiz to the center of the ring. After a few more chest bumps from Ortiz, the action continued.
The fight headed into the 10th and final round with Ortiz way ahead on the cards but that’s wasn’t going to be enough for the Cuban. Ortiz dropped Kauffman for the third time and once again he was able to find a way to rise to his feet. It wasn’t long after that, Ortiz began to let his hands go and tasted a knockout victory.
After a barrage of unanswered punches, the referee called a stop to the action and awarded Ortiz the TKO victory in the 10th.
“I wanted to should everything I had in my arsenal,” said Ortiz after the knockout win. “This was a team effort and we boxed according to the gameplan.”
With another knockout victory to his resume, Ortiz inches closer to another title shot but it remains to see if any champion will risk fighting the daunting Cuban.
