According to a news bit from El Nuevo Herald (as picked up by BadLeftHook), Cuban dangerman Luis Ortiz will appear in what must be looked at as a stay-busy fight against Christian Hammer on March 2nd. The fight, set for The Barclays Centre in New York, will take place on the under-card of the Brian Castano/Erislandy Lara fight. Ortiz, who turns 40 in March (some say the southpaw is actually quite a bit older) is currently 30-1(26) and he will be heavily favoured to defeat Hammer and improve to 31-1.
31 year old Hammer, 24-5(14) is not a bad fighter and the Romanian who is based in Germany has a good deal of experience. During his ten-year pro career, Hammer has been in with Tyson Fury, Alexander Povetkin and Mariusz Wach, while he owns wins over Kevin Johnson, David Price and Erkan Teper. Last time out, in December, Hammer rebounded from the wide decision loss he suffered against Povetkin back in December of 2017; Hammer winning his last two fights, both by stoppage.
With Ortiz, at his age (or older) it’s possible the wheels could come off at just about any time, and any fight he is in could prove risky for him, at least a little. Motivation could prove to be an issue for these kind of fights, as Ortiz as we know wants the big fights, another world title chance. Losing only to WBC ruler Deontay Wilder in a good action fight that saw both men hurt in there, Ortiz remains a genuine threat to any heavyweight you care to mention.
Hammer may well stick around for a few rounds on March 2, but Ortiz has to be the big pick to win; probably by stoppage. Then. Later this year, it’s entirely possible Ortiz will be matched with unbeaten heavyweight hope/contender Joe Joyce. Hammer doesn’t figure to spoil that fight from coming off.
Ortiz, like Hammer, has won his last two fights, seeing off as he did both Razvan Cojanu and, last time, Travis Kauffman. It’s up to you when it comes to whether or not Ortiz was impressive in either fight.
