Monte Two Gunz Barrett versus Luis King Kong Ortiz April 2014 Heavyweight Preview
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
Indio, CA (March 19th, 2014)– Former top rated heavyweight contender Monte Two Gunz Barrett will return to the ring on April 3, 2015, at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, to face 20-0 Cuban heavyweight prospect Luis Ortiz.
Barrett, now age 42, 35-10-2, 20 knockouts, with one no-contest, Queens, New York, has won only one of his last seven professional bouts, a 12 round decision over David Tua. Ortiz, now age 34, 20-0 with 17 knockouts, Miami Beach, Florida, is nicknamed ‘The Real King Kong’. Ortiz, a Cuban defector with a 323-19 record, is an untested southpaw currently ranked second in the world by the World Boxing Association.
Ortiz has been active since February 16, 2010, when he turned professional with a first round knockout of Lamar Davis at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. In 48 months, Ortiz has fought 21 times, averaging more than five bouts every 12 months. Activity is Ortiz’ greatest weapon against the mostly inactive Barrett. Ortiz is also a southpaw, which might confuse Barrett and give him major trouble. Ortiz has an 85 percent knockout ratio. His punching power might be underestimated.
Barrett has 16 years of professional experience, and has fought a who’s who of class opposition from Wladimir Klitschko to David Haye, from Greg Page to Tim Witherspoon, from Joe Mesi to Hasim Rahman, from Owen Beck to Nicolai Valuev. At one point, Monte fought four opponents in succession with a combined record of 92-1.
Monte knows Ortiz is untested. The bottom line is which Monte Barrett will show up?
Monte can win a ten round unanimous decision if he has had a full eight week camp and is immaculately prepared for this assignment. If Monte took this fight with insufficient preparation time, Ortiz will stop Monte within nine rounds. Ortiz has never been past eight rounds. In this ten rounder, Monte will attempt to drag Ortiz into the later round ‘twilight zone’ rounds in deep waters. Monte could get outboxed by Ortiz, or it could be the other way around. It’s hard to tell who will win. As Ortiz is till unbeaten, he might get some preferential treatment from the judges.
Ortiz is not a Robert Helenius or Deontay Wilder.Ortiz remains a mysterious question mark. Nobody knows much about him. Fellow Cuban heavyweight defector Odlanier Solis, age 33, who fights Tony Thompson for the WBC International Heavyweight title on March 22 in Istanbul, Turkey, is better known. Neither has the name recognition the late Cuban triple Olympic Gold Medalist Teofilo Stevenson (1952-2012) had. Ortiz hopes fighting and defeating Monte will put him on the map. It might, or Monte might put him on the floor and expose him.
Viva la Vida. If Monte has one more good fight left in the tank, this is the one. We’ll soon find out.
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