Ortiz shines against Arnaoutis in surprisingly easy blow out

Bright prospect Victor Ortiz passed an important test by stopping seasoned contender Mike Arnaoutis in the 2^nd round at The Tank, San Jose, California, televised on HBO.  Besides a disqualification and a no contest on his record Victor Ortiz has been perfect.  And those blemishes would have been sure KO’s for Ortiz so in essence, he’s undefeated. Some people weren’t on the Ortiz bandwagon before this fight and thought Arnaoutis would provide a stern test or perhaps even beat the young Oxnard via Kansas prospect.(I picked Ortiz to win by KO but didn’t think it would be this easy)

But the wagon is quickly filling up as Ortiz had no trouble with the former title challenger Arnaoutis. And that is impressive considering Arnaoutis was still (supposedly) in his physical prime and came within an eye lash of winning the vacant WBO title against puncher Ricardo Torrez in late 2006. Arnaoutis held current IBF title holder Juan Urango to a draw a few years ago and went the distance with dangerous and ultra quick Kendall Holt.

The first round was sort of a feeling out process but Ortiz was able find the target while Arnaoutis barely threw a punch. In the 2^nd round, Ortiz was suddenly walking Arnaoutis down and Mighty Mike looked somewhat lost. Then in the blink of an eye, Ortiz slipped an Arnaoutis jab and countered with a sharp left cross high on the head. Arnaoutis was hurt and pitched sideways towards the ropes doing the best he could to survive.

But Ortiz pounced instantly with a fusillade of punches. One particular uppercut in that flurry caught Arnaoutis cleanly and he began to sag and drop his hands. The ref saw the body language of Arnaoutis and wisely halted the action.  I don’t think Arnaoutis would have lasted much longer if the fight were to continue.

This was an excellent win for the youngster Ortiz. He has settled in nicely with Golden Boy Promotions and is now on a clear path to a title and perhaps superstardom. Not only does Ortiz have great talent and power but he has a compelling background and comes off as a bright, engaging personality. Ortiz was abandoned by his parents (I bet they wish they hung in there now) and had to take care of his siblings while forging his boxing career.

But he seems unaffected by his past and does his best to be humble and self deprecating, which isn’t easy due to his age and amazing ability-  but he pulls it off.  The 140 pound division is another very deep division in the sport and Ortiz will have plenty to keep him busy for many years to come. In this division Ricky Hatton takes on Manny Pacquiao in May but those guys are getting close to retirement and Ortiz may not be in a position to fight them in time. We’ll see. But there are other guys like Tim Bradley, Kendall Holt, Juan Urango, hard nosed fellow prospect Mike Alvarado and many other possibilities. The sky is the limit for Ortiz.

All he has to do is stay in the gym and continue to make the right choices in his life.  Any boxing fan will want to see more of this guy.  He’s got the good looks and has a media friendly style that you’d expect from lesser guy but he is a very real fighter that seems to have it all – ability, talent, speed and power to go along with his potential star power. He hasn’t had a brutal test yet to determine his mettle but that’s not his fault as he has simply been too good for everyone on his path thus far . We’ll learn  a lot more about Ortiz in the next 2 years but I believe he will pass many subsequent tests and have great success.