“Vicious” Victor Ortiz
workout
Q & A: Victor Ortiz
Interview and Photos
by Ricardo Conde
June 18, 2009
NABO/USBA light welterweight
champion “Vicious” Victor Ortiz (24-1-1, 19 KOs), from Oxnard,
CA by way of Garden City, Kansas, will face Argentina’s Marcos
“El Chino” Maidana (25-1, 24 KOs) on June 27th for the interim
WBA junior welterweight title at the Staples Center in Los
Angeles, CA. Ortiz vs. Maidana, which will be shown live on HBO
B.A.D. (Boxing After Dark) and being promoted by Golden Boy
Promotions, will be the main event that night and in the
co-feature will be the rematch between WBA featherweight
champion Chris John and Rocky Juarez.
At only 22 years of age, Victor
Ortiz is quickly becoming one of boxing’s new superstars. We had
a moment to sit down and talk to Ortiz as he prepares for his
upcoming bout, here’s what he had to say:
Q: You’re currently preparing for your next fight, which will be
against Marcos Maidana, what do you know about your opponent and
have you seen video of his fights and do you normally watch
video of any of your opponents?
A: I know I’m in for a tough, hard fight. He’s there to win and
so am I. I’m hungry I’m young; this is something I have been
working for, for a very long time. A long the way there’s been
people who haven’t believed in me but I believe that it’s my
turn, it’s my chance and I’m not going to let it slip. I’ve been
training to hard and I’ve had some of the greatest sparring
partners so as far as that goes I’m ready and I know I’m ready
for a war and he shouldn’t be expecting a light walk.
Q: How is training camp going and who have you been sparring
with to help you prepare for your upcoming bout?
A: Training camp has being going very well; I’ve been sparring
with some very great fighters. I’m not going to mention any
names but they are great fighters and I just know that I’m ready
to go into combat.
Q: This is the first time you’ll be headlining, do think there’s
any added pressure for you to have a great performance and how
does that make you feel?
A: There’s always that question about pressure, all my pressure
came early on in my career and in the Olympic trials, so I’ve
learned quite a bit of how to channel that pressure, so as far
as pressure, there’s no pressure at the moment.
Q: Should you get past Maidana, would you like to fight the
winner of Kotelnik-Khan in your next bout?
A: You know what, I’m not looking ahead of Maidana, and so for
me to answer a question like that I guess we’d have to redo the
interview after the fight. Right now my focus is on Maidana and
no one else.
Let’s talk a little bit about your last fight.
Q: In your last outing you were able to stop “Mighty” Mike
Arnaoutis in the 2nd round, was he the best opponent you have
faced to date and what’s your opinion of him as a fighter?
A: Mike Arnaoutis is a great fighter. I’ve looked over his tapes
quite a few times and I knew that he was an elite fighter, just
like I am, so he is a great fighter, but with the coaching of my
trainers I got through the fight fairly easily as people say but
I really thought it was a hard test for me and a hard fight but
I guess I just connected earlier than he did.
Q: What kind of statement were you looking to make in your fight
with Arnaoutis, were you looking for the knockout?
A: No, I’ve never try to look for the knockout. I’ve learned the
hard way a few times; I don’t go in there looking for a
knockout. I mean I was surprised that I knocked Arnaoutis out,
that wasn’t the intent, that wasn’t what I was going for. I
wasn’t trying to, my focus there was going twelve rounds and it
ended early.
Q: What is your opinion of the current junior welterweight
division?
A: It’s a great division to be in, a lot of great fighters right
now, you have Pacquiao, Marquez, the list goes on. There’s a lot
of great fighters there and I just hope one day I’ll be
considered one those.
Q: What are your some of your future goals?
A: Futures goals for me would be to become world champ and
retain my titles I have right now.
Q: Not to long ago you were at a fan rally to show support for
one of your friends, Juan Manuel Marquez, were before Marquez
made his appearance, hundreds of people gathered around you
asking for pictures and autographs, how does/did that make you
feel to see such a big following?
A: It was great, I’m just thankful for everyone following me and
supporting me. I just feel like, my deepest thank you’s from the
bottom of my heart.
Q: Is there anything you would like to tell your fans?
A: Thank you very much for following me and making stuff like
this possible for me. It’s always been a dream of mine and I’m
happy to start getting closer to it with the help of everyone so
for that I thank you.
