Victor Ortiz vs. Devon Alexander in the works for February

Boxingnews24.com

By Sean Jones: Devon Alexander (27-4, 14 KOs) and Victor ‘Vicious’ Ortiz (32-6-2, 25 KOs) could be battling each other in a crossroads fight at welterweight in December. The fight was mentioned by Fighthype for February. Alexander retweeted the news of the fight on his social media site.

If the Devon Alexander vs. Victor Ortiz fight gets made for February, it’s possible that it’ll wind up on the undercard of the Danny Garcia vs. Brandon Rios on February 17 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. It makes sense for the Alexander-Ortiz fight to end up on that card, since both guys are managed by Al Haymon, who also works with Garcia. This would be a fight likely presented by Premier Boxing Champions on Showtime. That would be a great card with Garcia vs. Rios in the main event and Alexander fighting Ortiz in the co-feature bout. In the best possible world, the winners of those 2 fights could face each other. However, Garcia wants to fight WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith Thurman in a rematch to avenge his loss to him from earlier this year in March. Garcia might not want to tie himself down to fighting the Alexander-Ortiz winner, but you never know.

The 30-year-old Ortiz looked great beating Saul Corral by a 4th round knockout last July. The way Ortiz looked in that fight, he was the same guy that had boxing fans talking about him 6 years ago. Ortiz looked mentally there for the fight, and there no erosion in his boxing skills. If anything, Ortiz looked better than he was in his best years.

It’s a must-win fight for both guys. Alexander, 30, looked very good in his comeback fight against Walter Castillo on November 21. Alexander won that fight by a 10 round unanimous decision in his first fight in 2 years. Alexander looked like he had never been away. It was the best Alexander looked since his 10 round unanimous decision win over Marcos Maidana in 2012.

This is a good fight for the boxing public. When Alexander and Ortiz are at their best, they’re capable of putting on great shows. It’s hard to tell when you’re going to get the best from these 2 fighters.

Ortiz and Brandon Rios were talking about a fight against each other, but it never materialized. Rios is now facing Danny Garcia on February 17. There would be more interest in Ortiz fighting Rios than there will be in Ortiz facing Alexander. But at this point in Ortiz’s career, he’s got to take what he can get. Ortiz has won 3 out of his last 4 fights, but his one loss was a big one in getting stopped by Andre Berto in the 4th round last year. That one was a bad loss for Ortiz. If he’d won the bout, he would have been in a good position for a bigger money fight. Berto subsequently fought Shawn Porter last April and was stopped in the 9th. That wouldn’t have been a good fight for Ortiz to be fighting a tough guy like Porter.

Realistically, the winner of the Alexander vs. Ortiz fight could be in position to fight the likes of Adrien Broner, Errol Spence Jr. Andre Berto, Lamont Peterson or Garcia. It’s a long shot that the Alexander-Ortiz winner will get a title shot against Thurman. He’s already got a full plate for 2018. Spence would be a possibility. He’s the IBF 147 lb. champion. I can’t see Ortiz or Alexander beating Spence, but at least money would be good fighting him.

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