Luis Ortiz is 46 years old and wears a belly like a block that had too much roast on Sunday, and yet he is still decorating heavyweights. On Friday in Orlando, ‘King Kong’ didn’t even break sweat. He folded America’s Phillip Penson in one round in the Caribe Royale, weighed a 267 -pound career high and still landed bombs as in 2015.
The whole thing was over in a blink of an eye. One left hand to the body bent penson in the ropes like a wet cover chair. Seconds later, Ortiz ended up the same shot above, and that was it. Ref blew it down, fans barely had time to drink their beers. Two strokes, two knockdowns, work done.
Still a killer or just a bar trick?
Penson (8-5-3) was never meant to hold. It was Ortiz’s second straight first round since Andy Ruiz Jr. returned in 2022. It looks good, it looks good on paper, but looks closer: Ortiz is busy with heavy, slow, built around power and not much more. Does he grind at this point or do he just crush cans to keep his name alive?
His coach German Caicedo reckons the old man is still avoided, he told Boxingscene.com: “He was the fighter who was most avoided in boxing. He has never picked up anyone or said no for a fight. ‘ Maybe this was true ten years ago, but right now it feels like no one wants to take a payday on a block that can pull out a nasty dismay, but not bring ticket sales.
What is next – payday or retirement?
Ortiz is in no man’s country. Too dangerous for prospects that do not want to splash through a pensioner, not relevant enough for the big names chasing belts. The best he can hope for is one last role of the dice against a contender that needs a scalp or a sloppy farewell battle against another name of the past.
Either way, the watch of King Kong is tapping. The abdomen is getting bigger, the legs slow down, but the left hand still wrings people. And if boxing has learned something, it’s that promoters will happily throw an old Warhorse in the ring if there is a payday in it. Ortiz is not done – but father -time is already warming up in his corner.
Last updated on 09/20/2025
