Unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder will run back the most difficult fight of his career on Saturday when he welcomes hard-hitting Luis Ortiz in a pay-per-view rematch in Las Vegas.
Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) rallied from nearly being stopped in Round 7 of their first meeting in 2018 to finish Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs) via 10th-round TKO in what many called an instant classic of a heavyweight title clash.
The rematch will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena with similar stakes as Wilder, 34, looks to retain his title and move one step closer to his goal of unifying all four recognized titles. The 40-year-old Ortiz, meanwhile, enters a rare second chance to right a wrong after nearly scoring a knockout in their first meeting in his pursuit of becoming the first Cuban heavyweight champion.
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Let's take a closer look at the biggest storylines entering Saturday.
1. Wilder's willingness to gamble is bordering on recklessness. If there's an elephant in the room entering Saturday, it's the fact that Wilder -- in nothing short of unprecedented fashion -- previously announced the signing of a February rematch against lineal champion Tyson Fury before his own rematch with Ortiz ever became official. While Wilder's bravery and confidence can certainly be commended considering Ortiz is so often avoided, there's an element to this decision making that is reckless. Wilder and Fury fought to a disputed draw in their own 2018 classic that left fans instantly wanting a second helping. When they do meet again in a two-network PPV, it has a shot to be the biggest fight of 2020. But Ortiz is no one's stepping stone or stay-busy opponent, and Wilder is risking much more than simply a loss by scheduling this fight just three months before the Fury rematch is contracted to take place. Even if Wilder wins this weekend, anything from a cut to a hand injury could force him to need to pull out of the Fury fight, which is bad news for everyone. Wilder has explained his decision as a mixture of wanting to "bless" Ortiz -- a fellow father of a daughter battling a debilitating disease whom he respects greatly -- with another payday while challenging himself a against someone that very few fighters are willing to face once, let alone a second time. However you slice it, Wilder is risking it all.
2. Ortiz has focused on fixing his 'mistake'. When Ortiz has been asked in recent months about how close he came to finishing Wilder in their first fight only to be stopped three rounds later, he repeatedly referred to his demise as a "mistake." Asked to dig deeper into what he's referencing, Ortiz blamed the loss on his insufficient cardio and the likely reality that he gassed out after emptying the tank in Round 7 while Wilder was hurt. Although the rematch will come 20 months after their first fight, Ortiz has recorded three wins in the interim and has aligned himself with controversial nutritionist Victor Conte to prepare himself for 12 hard rounds. The result has been training camp photos of a trimmer and ripped Ortiz, who maintains rumors that he's really 10 years older than his given age of 40 are nothing but false. Considering Ortiz outboxed Wilder for the first four rounds and nearly had him finished, fixing the one negative in his game that led to the knockout loss could make Ortiz one heck of a live dog in the rematch.
3. Let's not forget what Wilder overcame in the first fight. As a stand-up champion willing to face the best, Wilder has never been one to make excuses. He was, however, visually compromised by the flu ahead of the first fight against Ortiz and came in extra light on the scales as a result of it. Wilder weighed in just shy of 215 pounds, which was his lowest weight for a fight in nine years dating back to his third appearance as a professional. Wilder has admitted in recent weeks that the illness left him weak and sluggish despite the fact that he so dramatically rallied for a stoppage win. Historically, it's hard to bet against the younger fighter with the bigger punch entering a rematch to score an earlier result the second time around. If Wilder is at 100 percent, he certainly has the power to do just that in the rematch regardless of how fresh or focused Ortiz is.
4. It may be knockout or nothing for Ortiz and he knows it. If there's one thing the mild-mannered Ortiz hasn't been shy about referencing of late is how much of an uphill battle he felt he was facing against Wilder in their first meeting. Not only was it later revealed that Wilder was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage, which was in direct contrast to the scores of most ringside experts, Ortiz maintains Wilder was given preferential treatment by the New York State Athletic Commission after Round 7. With the Barclays Center crowd in Brooklyn on their feet to see whether Wilder had the legs to continue after being battered for the final minute of the previous round, referee David Fields called for time to allow ringside doctors a chance to examine Wilder at the start of Round 8. The crowd booed vehemently thinking Wilder was given an unnecessary rest period, which was an opinion Ortiz agreed with. The reality is likely closer to being that the New York commission was acting extra conservative in the aftermath of heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov's brain injury following a 2013 loss. Still, Ortiz understands his role as the clear B-side of this promotion and also realizes how lucky he was to get a second chance. The only way to avoid the potential of controversy in this case is to take matters into his own hands.
5. The unpredictability of this heavyweight season is intoxicating. Let's face it, the last two years in heavyweight boxing have provided enough fun matchups and renewed enthusiasm to actually forget how painful the 15 or so years that preceded it were during the dominant era of the Klitschko brothers. The current scenarios entering Saturday's rematch are no different and not just because of the gamble Wilder is taking with the Fury fight so close on the horizon. Unified champion Andy Ruiz Jr. will look to upset Anthony Joshua a second time in December and the fallout of that fight alone could have wild implications, especially should Ruiz leave victorious and bring his trio of world titles back to the PBC banner where an undisputed fight against Wilder or Ortiz would make the most logical sense. Fury remains the obvious wild card to all of this as the reigning lineal champ (as does former cruiserweight king Alexander Usyk) but the fact that the division has so many sexy options and that unification is possible in fights featuring characters who cross over so easily is undeniably refreshing. It has been a long time since big-time heavyweight fights were frontpage news around the globe and the gateway drug into bringing casual fans back into the sport. Savor the flavor while you can.
