Victor Ortiz to Be 'Vicious' Against Antonio Diaz

Golden Boy Promotions' Richard Schaefer says 22-year-old southpaw boxer "Vicious" Victor Ortiz "had all these ingredients" to be "a superstar" heading into June's junior middleweight (140 pounds) bout against hard-hitting Argentenian Marcos Rene Maidana:

"There are a lot of fighters who can be world champions because of their talent, but there are very, very few who really have the ability to become a superstar," said Schaefer, calling the Oxnard, Calif., resident, "the most promising fighter today -- not just here in California, but, frankly, the world.

"It takes the charisma. It takes the great smile. It takes the dedication. It takes working with the community and with the underprivileged children," said Schaefer. "And, yes, he needs to know how to fight. No challenge is too big for him, and he truly is blessed with the gifts that he has in his fists, and what he has in his heart."


But Ortiz said that he may have shown too much heart against Maidana (27-1, 26 KOs) on the way to a sixth-round knockout loss, during which the younger man floored the 26-year-old Maidana three times, before being dropped, himself, for the second and final time.



The Fight-Of-The-Year-caliber brawl for the interim WBA title left Ortiz with a nasty gash over his left eye, a dark purple bubble of a welt beneath his right eye, and a broken right wrist that required surgery to repair.

Ortiz (25-2, 19 knockouts), nevertheless, said he's raring to go for Saturday night's HBO-televised return bout against 33-year-old, Mexican-born Antonio Diaz (46-5-1, 29 KOs) of Coachella, Calif.

"I'm good now. The broken wrist, they've fixed everything on that. I'm fighting Antonio Diaz, and that's all that's on my mind," said Ortiz, who was in "my zombie mode," against Maidana.

"I wasn't there. I didn't show up. I didn't even know that I fought six rounds. It was a sad time for me. I was in depression mode. With the wrist injury and the cast on, I was missing boxing so much," said Ortiz.

"I couldn't wake up and go hit the bag," said Ortiz. "I couldn't do anything. But I paid the consequences for what I did wrong. It was a lesson learned. It's in the past."

As much as Maidana may be a mental battle to overcome, Ortiz already has been through much worse in a life that already makes his story one of rags-to-riches.

Born the second of three children to Mexican immigrants in Garden City, Ks., Ortiz was seven years old when his mother left him, and, 13, when his alcoholic father did the same, the fighter told Ray Holloman of FanHouse for a feature story in March.

"I was seven years old. I had just come home from school and she was gone," said Ortiz, recalling his mother's exodus.

"I was watching Power Rangers, had the red Power Ranger underwear on even though the Green Power Ranger, Tommy, was my favorite," said Ortiz. "And she just didn't come home. My mom, I can't stand her, never can, never will."

Bullied by two of his peers during his early childhood, Ortiz was taken to a gym by his father to learn how to box. But soon, like his mother, his father would be gone as well.

"It hurt. He was a guy I wanted to grow up to be just like, that I idolized, that I said, 'I want to be like you," said Ortiz. "But the years went by and he changed. I changed. Our family fell apart."

Ortiz and his brother left Garden City and his 16-year-old pregnant sister to live on their own for more than a year. While still in middle school, however, Ortiz sold ecstasy and marijuana.

"I knew it was wrong, but to me it was survival of the fittest," said Ortiz. "I had to do what I had to do. I feel bad about it."

Meanwhile, Ignacio "Bucky" Avila, a local trainer whose name Ortiz wears on his trunks, even today, continued to work with the promising young fighter, who earned a Kansas Golden Gloves championship.

"[Avila] would make a trade with me. I mowed his yard, he gave me a Sonic [fast food] coupon," said Ortiz of Avila, who died nearly four years ago. "He put up with me and never complained."

Ortiz and his younger brother, Temo, were placed with a foster family, John and Sharon Ford.

"They were great to me, kept me on the straight and narrow," said Ortiz. "That's when I really changed a lot and realized I didn't want to be that angry person I was."

Shortly thereafter, at the age of 15, Ortiz and Temo moved in with their 18-year-old sister, who gained custody of her brothers in Denver.

In the 2003 Junior Olympic Nationals, Ortiz met Robert Garcia, who guided him through a successful amateur boxing career and, into the pros.

"You have a young man who, at the tender age of 13 years old, was in foster care," said Ortiz's manager, Rolando Arellano. "He's a young man who has been living and taking on the responsibilities of an adult while he should have been out there playing with his friends."

Ortiz's warrior spirit took over against Maidana, whom he dropped to one knee early with a first-round, head-swiveling, right hand. Later, in the round, however, Maidana's straight right to the jaw landed Ortiz on his own back.

Ortiz rebounded to floor Maidana twice in the second. There was a short, right hand that landed Maidana on his back, where he rolled right like a turtle before rising to his feet. Then, there was a crisper, shorter, head-turning right inside that forced Maidana to briefly take a knee.

In the end, however, it was Ortiz who succumbed with 46 seconds left in the sixth round, after again being sent to the canvas.




But soon after the loss, Ortiz was itching to get back into action.

"I never took any days off. I got the surgery, and had a cast on. But even with the cast, I was running, I was shadow-boxing. Nothing held me back. Antonio Diaz is a heckuva a fighter, but now that I've learned from my mistakes, this weekend should be fun," said Ortiz.

"I held nothing back in this camp. I'm just making sure that I'm focused and staying on game," said Ortiz. "I just feel like my last performance wasn't me. I'm ready to go out there on Saturday night to show the world the real 'Vicious' Victor Ortiz."