| |
| Birthdate | January 31, 1987 |
|---|---|
| Birthplace | Garden City, Kansas, U.S. |
| Character | Mars |
| IMDB profile | |
"Vicious" Victor Ortiz (born January 31, 1987) is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent. He is a former WBC Welterweight Champion.
He was previously in the light welterweight, where he held the USBA & NABO titles. Ortiz, with a crowd-pleasing, aggressive style, two-fisted power and boyish charm, was made the 2008 ESPN Prospect of the Year.
He was formerly rated as one of the "top three" welterweight boxers in the world by most sporting news and boxing websites, including The Ring, BoxRec.com, and ESPN.
The first loss and the two draws on Ortiz's record are not counted as significant due to the fact the loss came by way of disqualification in the first round for knocking Corey Alarcon cold with an uppercut off a clinch. The first of two draws was a first-round technical draw in January 2007, when Ortiz faced Marvin Cordova Jr., when an accidental head-butt opened a cut on Ortiz's forehead and rendered him unable to continue. The second draw was a controversial one against Lamont Peterson, as ESPN.com and HBO unofficial scorer Harold Lederman both had it 97-91 in favor for the 23-year-old Ortiz.
Career[]
While training at a Salvation Army Red Shield Community Center, he was noticed by former heavyweight boxing contender Ron Lyle, who had become a supervisor at the center. In 2003, Lyle guided Ortiz to a Junior Olympics tournament, where, at the age of sixteen, he won the 132-pound weight division with a perfect 5-0 record. This time, he was noticed by another former boxer, Roberto Garcia, who had held the IBF Super Featherweight Championship during the 1990s and whose father was the trainer of Fernando Vargas.
Move to California[]
Though Garcia was based in Oxnard, California, he offered to train Ortiz, who accepted and moved from Colorado to California, where he began training at Oxnard's famous La Colonia Youth Boxing Club. Garcia later became Ortiz's legal guardian, and Ortiz graduated from Pacifica High School. At age seventeen, Ortiz reached the United States Olympic boxing trials in the 132-pound weight class, where he was eliminated in the final stages (The weight class was instead won by Vicente Escobedo).
Ortiz turned professional later in 2004 while still only seventeen years of age. When he reached the age of eighteen in 2005 and became a legal adult, he gained custody of his younger brother, who is now a college student. Ortiz continues to reside in Ventura, California.
Victor Ortiz boxed at The Garden City Boxing club where he was trained by five trainers who all worked together to get him ahead in his boxing career. His original trainers included Ignacio "Buck" Avilia, Manuel Rios, Antonio Orozco Sr., Juan M. Aldana Jr. and Alfred Ritz. He won the Ringside National Title in 2001 and 2002 and the National Jr. Olympics in 2002.
The Expendables[]
For his first movie role, Victor will be in The Expendables 3 and will be present in the fourth film as well.
The Expendables 3 Star Victor Ortiz on His New BFF's Antonio Banderas and Kellan Lutz