BY KEITH IDEC June 8, 2023 Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
Jamaine Ortiz isn’t interested in moral victories.
The bottom line to Ortiz is that he lost to Vasiliy Lomachenko on October 29. It was Lomachenko, not him, who moved on to challenge undefeated, undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney.
The 27-year-old Ortiz obviously is viewed differently by boxing fans and media than before he gave Lomachenko more difficulty than anticipated in their 12-round, 135-pound bout seven months ago. From Ortiz’s perspective, however, he is unfortunately preparing to compete in a non-televised fight Saturday night at the same venue, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, where he boxed Lomachenko. “To me, it didn’t feel good because I didn’t get the victory,” Ortiz told BoxingScene.com regarding his fight with Lomachenko. “At the end of the day, I knew I was gonna perform that way. That wasn’t a surprise to me. But the compliments from other people, I don’t live off other people’s praises. I don’t care if people like me or don’t like me, if they say, ‘Yeah, I thought you won.’ To me, that don’t mean sh*t, to be honest.
“I just wanna win and be the best. Coming off a close [loss], to me, ain’t nothing. I still didn’t get the decision. I still didn’t win. I didn’t get the fight with Devin Haney after that. With me, all the people’s opinions don’t matter, good or bad, because I only live up to my own expectations and I only live up to what I think about myself.”
Ortiz (16-1-1, 8 KOs) got off to a strong start when the Worcester, Massachusetts native battled Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs), whose comeback in the second half of their fight enabled the three-division champion to win unanimously on the scorecards. Judges Mark Consentino (116-112), Frank Lombardi (117-111) and John McKaie (115-113) all scored their closely contested fight for Ukraine’s Lomachenko.
“When I heard the scores, I thought I won,” Ortiz said. “But I rewatched it a couple times and I give myself an easy 7-5 [win]. They had their agenda. They set it up with Devin Haney. It is what it is.”
That said, Ortiz believes Lomachenko did enough to dethrone Haney on May 20 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Haney retained his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO belts because he won unanimously according to judges Tim Cheatham (115-113), Dave Moretti (116-112) and David Sutherland (115-113). Ortiz, meanwhile, will partake in his first fight Saturday night since the Lomachenko loss – a 10-rounder against Mexican veteran Humberto Galindo (14-3-1, 11 KOs).
Ortiz-Galindo is scheduled to be the last non-televised bout ESPN+ will stream before a doubleheader will begin on ESPN at 10 p.m. EDT. Unbeaten WBO junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs) will defend his title against mandatory challenger Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs) in the 12-round main event.
“I think he’s gonna come in real strong, try to knock me out,” Ortiz said of Galindo, “and I’m gonna just try to stay as sharp as I can.”
Galindo dropped undefeated lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla in the first round of Galindo’s last fight. Muratalla (18-0, 15 KOs) recovered, knocked Galindo to the canvas once apiece with body shots in the fourth and ninth rounds and won by ninth-round technical knockout March 25 at Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California.
“I wouldn’t say I was impressed with him,” Ortiz said of Galindo. “It was more the faults on Muratalla’s end. I’m not really impressed with Galindo, but he definitely packs a punch. He was able to knock down and knock out another undefeated fighter [Darvin Galeano]. So, he’s definitely a strong dude, packs a punch. He’s a little slick. He’s got some experience under him and he got some tricks up his sleeve.”
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