The eagerly-awaited ring return of Luis Ortiz ended quickly in bizarre circumstances on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
The 41-year-old Cuban stopped Alexander Flores in just 46 seconds at the Microsoft Theater, sending his opponent to the canvas with a body shot. Flores appeared to hurt his leg and was unable to get to his feet as the fight was stopped.
It was the first outing for Ortiz (now 32-2) since he suffered the second of his two defeats by Deontay Wilder last November. ‘King Kong’ was ahead on the cards when ‘The Bronze Bomber’ connected with a huge right hand to close the show.
Originally Ortiz had been slated to face Scott Alexander here, but when Alexander pulled out after testing positive for COVID-19 it was Flores who stepped into the breach.
THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY! ????
Luis "King Kong" Ortiz ends it in 46 seconds with a body shot pic.twitter.com/SNtzGhpygf
— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) November 8, 2020
The fight itself ended up being quite the disappointment as after some initial sparring, Ortiz landed the body shot which sent Flores to the canvas. Flores (now 18-3-1) could not get up and the bout was immediately stopped.
It was the third professional defeat for Flores, with the previous two coming against former world heavyweight champions in Charles Martin and Joseph Parker.
