Luis Ortiz Claims Andy Ruiz Jr. Fight Is ‘Crucial’ For His Career

Luis Ortiz believes his upcoming fight on Sunday against Andy Ruiz Jr. is crucial for his career.

Ortiz and Ruiz Jr. are set to meet in a WBC semifinal eliminator where the winner will advance in the rankings and inch one step closer to challenging for the WBC title currently held by England’s Tyson Fury. With that, Ortiz believes this fight makes sense and a scrap that many fans have wanted to see.

“This is a fight that everybody has wanted, two heavyweight warriors who are ready to fight,” Ortiz told BoxingScene.com. “We’ve wanted this fight for a long time and had to go chase after it to make it happen. But we’re here now and ready.”

Luis Ortiz is 43-years-old and this is likely his last shot at fighting for a world title and holding it. With that, he believes this fight is the most crucial for his career as he wants to end his career as a heavyweight champion.

“Every fight is important—but this one, in particular, is crucial to my career,” Ortiz admitted. “Whoever wins on Sunday will go on to fight for the heavyweight championship.”

If Ortiz does get his hand raised on Sunday, the title fight likely won’t happen until sometime next year when Ortiz is 44-years-old but he isn’t worried about that. Instead, he says he still feels fine but is only focused on Sunday and pulling off the upset to beat Ruiz Jr.

“First thing is to beat Andy Ruiz (on Sunday),” noted Ortiz. “After that, however long it takes to get another world title shot, we will always be ready. I’m always in the gym, always training, always ready. I don’t pay any attention to people who (mock) my age. I feel better now than I did when I was 35 and 25. I’ll feel even better when I become world champion and won’t stop until I reach that goal.”