Deontay Wilder is looking to clear one final hurdle before getting back in the ring with Tyson Fury, but it's a hurdle that almost tripped him up in the past. Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KO) is set for a rematch with Luis Ortiz (31-1-2, 26 KO) Nov. 23 in Las Vegas on Fox pay-per-view, according to a report from Mike Coppinger of The Athletic.
The two first met in March 2018 and delivered a classic heavyweight thriller with Wilder rallying late after being outboxed early. A crisp right from Wilder in Round 5 dropped Ortiz to the canvas but Ortiz came back hard in Round 7, scoring a 10-8 round despite not being able to knock the champ off his feet. With Ortiz slowing late in the fight, Wilder scored two knockdowns in Round 10 and earned a TKO victory.
Wilder followed up the victory with his first bout with Fury, which ended in a split draw. The rematch between Fury and Wilder is an inevitability, but the chaotic nature of the heavyweight division is always a threat to derail plans. That's almost exactly what happened when massive underdog Otto Wallin opened two horrific cuts over the eye of Fury on Sept. 14.
Ortiz, who has rebounded from his first career loss with wins over Razvan Cojanu, Travis Kauffman and Christian Hammer, is no easy out and proved he has the tools to bother -- and possibly defeat -- Wilder in their first meeting. So fans will have to wait and see if Wilder's power wins out again before making plans for Wilder vs. Fury 2.
