'I always knew I would get here': Worcester's Jamaine Ortiz boxes for world title Thursday in Las Vegas
WORCESTER — It’s the biggest bout of Jamaine Ortiz’s professional career.
And one the 27-year-old Worcester native, who will meet WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez in a 12-round title bout Thursday night at 12,000-seat Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, has been ready for since he was a lesser-known boxer.
“I always knew that I would get here,” Ortiz said last month during a send-off celebration at the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester, where he first learned the art of boxing 20 years ago. “It’s about being patient, but sometimes it can get to you.
“You’re just waiting, waiting, like, ‘I know I’m going to get there,’ but other people might start doubting because there has been so much time that has passed by and you’re still not at that stage of a world title and a big fight.
“But it’s just confirmation that everything that I said was true, everything that I believed in was true. It’s always been like that throughout my life. I say something is going to happen. It’s not on my time, but I’m glad it’s here.”
The 140-pound bout will be the main event on Top Rank Boxing on ESPN, which is scheduled to be broadcast from 10:30 p.m. Thursday until 12:30 a.m. Friday. It can also be seen on ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.
(The ESPN platform is also running a 30-minute, all-access preview, “Blood, Sweat & Tears: Lopez vs. Ortiz,” that can be seen at, among other times, 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and 9:30 a.m. Thursday on ESPNews.)
Ortiz is seeking to become the first born-and-raised fighter from Worcester to win a world championship. Jose Rivera, a three-time world champion, fought out of and made his home in Worcester, but was born in Philadelphia.
“My first time fighting for a world title,” Ortiz said. “To be the first Worcester born-and-bred world champion is something to be excited about. Not only for my city, not only for myself.
“I’m excited to shock the world. To upset Teofimo Lopez and just be on top of the world.”
Ortiz, a 2014 graduate of Doherty High — where he ran cross-country — is known in boxing circles as “The Technician” for his fast hands, smooth footwork and sharp acumen. He’s ranked eighth in the world, comes in with a 17-1-1 record, has eight knockouts to his credit and has never been KO’d.
Longtime trainer Rocky Gonzalez will be joined in Ortiz’s corner by trainer Lester Diaz, a former Cuban national team boxer whom Ortiz met while training in Dubai for a previous bout, and Ortiz’s uncle, Jose Rodriguez.
“He’s definitely ready for this,” Gonzalez said. “He’s looking good in the gym, healthy. Everything is going great; everything is just falling into place.”
Lopez, 26 and a two-division world titlist whose monikers include “The Showman” and “The Takeover,” is 19-1 (13 KOs) and also has never been knocked out. He oozes talent, is fundamentally sound and predictably unpredictable, making him a threat to win it all in the early rounds or by going the distance.
The world’s No. 2 light welterweight was born in Brooklyn and currently resides in Las Vegas, so he’ll be defending his belt on home turf.
No matter as Ortiz, who proclaimed himself “stronger, better, faster” after moving up a class after outgrowing the 135-pound division, envisions the fight unfolding one way. And one way only.
“I see myself winning by knockout,” Ortiz calmly, quickly and confidently said before doubling down when asked if he’s prepared to go the full 12 rounds. “It’s going to be a knockout.”
Ortiz and Lopez met once before, in the National Golden Gloves Championships in 2015. Lopez won a unanimous decision in the junior lightweight final that went three rounds.
That was nearly a decade ago, but boxers apparently have long memories as both camps have engaged in trash talk and shock speak in the months and, now, days leading up to the fight.
That includes this nugget Ortiz dropped about Lopez during a recent interview with WCVB-TV Channel 5.
“Back then he had a big nose, that’s what I remember, and now he has a big mouth,” Ortiz said. “So some body parts have changed on him, but still the same guy.”
Super Bowl LVIII will be played Sunday evening in Vegas, so the Strip should be bustling with even more action than normal.
Ortiz is neither a football fan nor a gambler, and even if he were, this trip is all about business. As for the big arena that will undoubtedly have plenty of famous folks in the ringside seats, well, he plans to pay no heed to any of that.
“I’m going to be excited, but none of that is going to get to me,” Ortiz said. “I’m just focused on Teofimo. Beating him and doing my job. That’s the only thing I’m focused on. The week, the fans, the event, that’s just all outside noise.”
—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester's Jamaine Ortiz boxes for world title Thursday in Las Vegas
