Who is Jamaine Ortiz?
Who is Jamaine Ortiz, the challenger to the revered WBO super lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas on February 8?
A hard road
Ortiz had a fine amateur career after starting out as a regional talent – his earliest fights were in Rhode Island and other neighbouring northeast venues. His first big break came in 2020 when he fought on the undercard of Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr and stopped the respected Sulaiman Segawa.
Beating Adorno
Joseph Adorno was once seen as one of the most promising prospects in Top Rank’s stable. A good amateur with admirable power, he appeared to have the potential to become a world champion. In Ortiz’s 15th fight, in 2021, he and Adorno fought to a draw. Ortiz was dropped twice, but otherwise outworked Adorno, whose power rescued him via those knockdowns in the second and seventh rounds.
A crossroads fight for both, Adorno has not since been the same. He has struggled to make weight, and was ultimately released by Top Rank. Ortiz, conversely, improved in the knowledge that he could compete with that calibre of opponent.
Moving on up
After fighting Adorno, Ortiz went into camp with Vasyl Lomachenko in preparation for his date in 2022 with Nahir “Woo” Albright, recognised as an improving contender, and earned a unanimous decision. Albright has since defeated Carlos Balderas and been competitive with Keyshawn Davis, another US Olympian, in a fight that was ultimately ruled a no contest.
The victory over Albright set up Ortiz’s fight with Jamel Herring, another respected US Olympian and the former WBO super featherweight champion. Ortiz, huge at lightweight, was too big for him, and earned a one-sided unanimous decision.
Fighting the best
Ortiz again stepped up later that year, this time against the great Lomachenko. After being doubted, he was very competitive in defeat – and to the extent some observers argued he deserved a narrow decision and debated whether Ortiz had demonstrated Lomachenko was in decline.
Rebuilding
After Lomachenko, Ortiz was set to fight Humberto Galindo, but his struggles to again make the lightweight limit meant him instead moving up to super lightweight and earning a unanimous decision over Antonio Moran.
His second fight there is against Lopez, perhaps the finest super lightweight in the world. His record is 17-1-1 (8).
