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Former world title holders Victor Ortiz and Devon Alexander square off in a welterweight showdown that will serve as the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card on February 17th, 2018 at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.
With the welterweight division stacked with big names and talent, these two former champions hope to keep their names among the elites. To do that though, they have to go through each other in a very important fight for both fighters.
Fighting Sporadically
Alexander is coming off an easy November 21st win over Walter Castillo. Prior to that bout, Alexander spent 25 months on the shelf recovering from addiction to painkillers. Alexander was both a 140 and 147-pound champion during his better years where he was considered one of boxing’s future stars.
Ortiz, meanwhile, has fought sporadically since losing his WBC welterweight belt to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2011. Aside from injuries, Ortiz has spent a considerable amount of time off the ring to pursue among others a movie career. But Ortiz returned in July 2017 to knock out Saul Corral in four rounds.
Crossroads Fight
Devon Alexander is the slight favorite here at -250 while Ortiz came back at +200. This is going to be an entertaining fight because both fighters know each other since they were kids but have never fought in the pros and when they were still in their primes. But like Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, it’s better late than never. The comparison ends there, though.
Both are in the tail end of their careers and this is a crossroads fight for the both of them. The winner of this bout shall remain relevant in a very loaded welterweight division while the loser will probably never be able to get another shot at returning to the pinnacle of the 147-pound division.
Not the Same
Both are former world champions and both are southpaws. But since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Victor Ortiz has never looked the same. He’s won just half of his fights and has lost to every recognizable name in his resume since the controversial knockout by Mayweather.
Devon Alexander has the advantage in speed and defense. He should be able to break down Ortiz while landing some excellent counter punches. Ortiz has the advantage in punching power but at this stage of his career, we aren’t sure what is left of Ortiz or his punching power. Something has been missing since he got knocked out by Mayweather.
We’re picking Devon Alexander to win this fight by unanimous decision. He’s too good to be lured by someone like Ortiz into a phone booth battle and he’s too smart to be caught by a one punch knockout from the Vicious One. Ortiz may be more entertaining but that’s as good as he’ll get.
