Former WBC welterweight champion Victor “Vicious” Ortiz (32-6-2, 25 KOs) says he’ll be back inside the ring in December to fight Josesito “The Riverside Rocky” Lopez (35-7, 19 KOs) in a long-awaited rematch between them.
Ortiz revealed the news of his rematch with the 33-year-old Lopez on his social media site. As of now, there still isn’t a set date of location for the rematch other than Ortiz sag the fight will take place in December.
It’s hard to believe Ortiz is only 30-years-old, as it seems like he’s been fighting forever. Unfortunately, Ortiz hasn’t been able to turn his career around in the last 5 years since his loss to Lopez. Both fighters’ boxing careers have long since tanked and gone belly up. The rematch between them is 5 years too late. Ortiz’s career hasn’t been the same since he lost 3 consecutive fights to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Josesito Lopez and Luis Collazo in between 2011 to 2014.
The Ortiz vs. Lopez rematch comes 5 years after Lopez beat Ortiz in a 9th round injury stoppage on June 23, 2012.
“Ortiz-Lopez on for December!!! Can’t wait!!! Talked too much for too long! #NuffSaid Strap up!!!!” said Ortiz on his Instagram.
Ortiz is coming off of an impressive 4th round knockout win over journeyman Saul Corral on July 30 in Bakersfield, California. Ortiz dropped Corral in round 4. The fight was halted shortly after that with Corral was still on his feet.
Lopez didn’t look nearly as good beating Saul Corral in his last fight in defeating him by a 10 round unanimous decision on April 9. Lopez knocked Corral down in round 10, but he was unable to keep him down. It was still a one-sided fight with Lopez winning by the sores 100-89, 100-89 and 100-89. Lopez wasn’t nearly as powerful as Ortiz was in stopping Corral in 4 rounds on July 30.
Right now, Victor Ortiz looks like he’s fighting at a higher level than Lopez in terms of his offensive skills. What we don’t know if Ortiz’s chin can hold up to getting hit by Lopez’s shots. Andre Berto knocked Ortiz out in the 4th round in their rematch last year on April 30. 5 years earlier, Ortiz had beaten Berto by a 12 round unanimous decision on April 16, 2011. The victory for Ortiz briefly gave him the WBC World welterweight title, which he promptly lost in his next fight in getting stopped by Floyd Mayweather Jr. on September 17, 2011.
Lopez was also knocked out by Berto in losing a 6th round knockout on March 13, 2015. Since that fight, Lopez has won his last 2 fights in beating Todd Manuel and Saul Corral.
It’s been such a long time since Lopez and Ortiz fought; they might as well have gone in different directions instead of fighting each other. Neither fighter is ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies at this time. It’s not a good career move for them to fight each other unless one of the networks is willing to shell out some money to see the two past their prime fighters face each other. Ortiz and Lopez should be looking to fight contenders in the 147 lb. division instead of facing each other if they want to try and revive their sagging boxing careers.