By Jake Donovan

It was perhaps the most difficult decision Luis “King Kong” Ortiz had to make in his pro career to date, one where he was well aware of the negative backlash once fully executed. The unbeaten heavyweight and his team have spent the past several weeks contemplating a way out of a co-promotional contract with Golden Boy Promotions, a deal which was finalized earlier this week.

An undisclosed payment was made to Golden Boy, terminating the present contract and allowing Ortiz to move forward with his career and on his own terms.

“I am excited over what the future holds for me,” Ortiz (25-0, 22KOs) told BoxingScene.com of his stance on the latest events, eager to speak with any media member willing to hear his side.

Such courtesy has yet to be extended to 37-year old southpaw from Miami by way of Cuba. Many fans and media members viewed the move with prejudice, citing a lack of loyalty shown by the interim titlist. Golden Boy stood tall with him in the aftermath of a failed drug test that turned a 1st-round knockout of Lateef Kayode into a No-Contest, putting the heavyweight to work immediately following his mandated suspension.

Thanks to a surplus of TV dates and opportunities, Golden Boy was able to secure four fights in a nine-month stretch for Ortiz. The paydays weren’t singularly spectacular, but collectively helped put money in his pocket and wins on his record while fighting at a pace that complemented his habits as the consummate gym rat.

“I live a very simple life; I train very hard, follow a great nutrition program and spend all my free time with my family,” Ortiz says of his day-to-day lifestyle.

His career hit an apex last December, headlining the final televised card of HBO’s 2015 boxing season. It was his network debut, announcing his arrival in style with a 7th-round knockout of perennial Top 10 contender Bryant Jennings. The win preceded quick knockouts of Byron Polley and Matias Vidondo, his first two bouts following his suspension but revealing little in regard to where he stood among the world’s best heavyweights.

The win over Jennings emphatically provided an answer to that question, establishing himself as a talent to watch.

As the lone heavyweight contender on Golden Boy’s roster, it unfortunately also meant becoming a heavyweight to avoid.

One more fight has followed, a one-sided 6th-round stoppage of middle-aged retread Tony Thompson this past March. The bout was secured as an alternative to a mandatory title challenge he’d been eager to get out of the way, a clash with Alexander Ustinov. The fringe contender from Belarus – who is co-promoted by World of Boxing and Queensberry Promotions - and his team had other ideas, opting to stall long enough to force the bout to a purse bid hearing.

Because the bout was ordered by the World Boxing Association (WBA) as part of its heavyweight consolidation tournament that so far has gone nowhere, Ortiz has been forced to sit on the sidelines and watch the parade go by.

“It’s bad enough nobody wants to fight the guy,” notes head trainer Herman Caicedo. “Now we’re also stuck in a tournament where the other candidates will likely give up their belts rather than face him. Who knows when the hell (lineal champ and WBA “Super” titlist) Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko will finally fight their rematch. (WBA “Regular” titlist) Ruslan Chagaev might not ever fight again, which leaves us with Fres Oquendo just to hold on to the WBA title.

“That puts us into next year, for two fights and no assurance of anything else being lined up after that.”

Therein lies the concern for Ortiz under his previous promotional agreement. Unification bouts were out of the question for the time being; Fury also holds the WBO belt. The WBC title is firmly in possession of Deontay Wilder, whose adviser Al Haymon is currently in court fighting a $300 million lawsuit filed by former business partner Golden Boy. The IBF strap is currently held by Anthony Joshua, who earlier this year inked a long-term contract with Showtime.

Simply put, there weren’t very many heavyweights on HBO’s side of the tracks, the boxing network of choice for Golden Boy but one that has endured a massive budget crunch that has resulted in a sparse number of available fight dates in 2016.

His fight with Thompson aired on HBO, with his next appearance to have come on the undercard of the September 17 PPV telecast headlined by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez versus unbeaten 154-pound titlist Liam Smith. It was the latest date presented to him by Golden Boy, with the Ustinov fight first targeted for late June and then August before being pushed back to mid-September.

Instead, his team decided that the appearance – and payday that came with it – wasn’t worth potentially sitting out the rest of the year and well into 2017.

“Our team discussed the options and ultimately made the right decision,” Ortiz said of the final call made by his manager Jay Jimenez, who heads up King Kong Boxing. “I have never turned away any fighter and will never turn away any fighter. All the top guys are not with Golden Boy so the move was inevitable.

“My manager has already lined up a great path to follow. No one pays that kind of money just to then see what happens.”

The first stop will be his on-and-off mandatory versus Ustinov, which has two targeted dates – October 7 in Russia in conjunction with a massive birthday celebration planned for president Vlaidmir Putin; or November 19 in Las Vegas as part of the supporting cast to the pound-for-pound showdown between unbeaten light heavyweights Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward.

Either scenario works for Ortiz, for the simple fact that – with a win – there exists greater control of his fighting future, without fear of boxing politics.

“All the other heavyweights, maybe they can’t even speak even basic Spanish because my name isn’t that hard to pronounce yet none of them seem to be able to say it,” Ortiz quipped of his past inability to land a big fight. “If they wanted to blame my promoter or my network, well that’s no longer an excuse. Jay Jimenez is a brilliant manager and believes enough in me to invest so much now to make sure I have a future.

“As for the Ustinov fight, it’s 100% a go. Wherever it takes place doesn’t matter. Of course I’d love to fight him in Las Vegas and not have to travel so far, but honestly I’d love to go back to Russia and fight. As an amateur I fought all of the best boxers from Russia and was always able to adapt to that fighting style. After all, Cubans perfected the style and added some soul to it.”

As for what comes after that, it’s less of a concern than was the case even a week ago.

There’s no disputing the job that Golden Boy was able to do in moving Ortiz to this point, particularly overcoming a potentially disastrous public relations matter regarding his aforementioned failed drug test. What was lacking, however, was the very thing he fought for just to arrive in the United States in the first place.

“You have to understand, six years ago Luis wasn’t a free man; he had nothing but a dream of one day fighting in the U.S. and to make enough money to bring his family over here,” points out Caicedo. “He was able to do all that, so moving forward – that’s the easy part. We took short money for the sake of keeping active. But when the dates thin out, the paydays need to get better to compensate for the lack of activity.

“With Jay able to make decisions without concern of promotional restraints and who can’t do business with whom, Luis can go back to putting all his focus on what he does best – training and boxing. He’s a very driven individual who can put any situation into proper perspective.”

Ortiz did just that prior to his latest session at Caicedo Sports Gym.

“Getting to the U.S. and getting my daughter proper medical care, that was the dream and I was able to make that happen,” Ortiz points out. “Life is always going to be the hard part. Putting that behind me and now the promotional status, we can focus on the easy part – fighting.”

Twitter: @JakeNDaBox_v2