By Pattee Mak
Jose “YAYO” Ortiz was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico and lived most of his life in Massachusetts. While in Puerto Rico, Ortiz put on his first pair of boxing gloves at the age of twelve and started training for what would become his future. He grew up watching boxing on television and knew this is all he wanted to do. His amateur record is 26-5-0. In 1995, he started his professional career against Harold Ouimette.
His professional record is 3-6-0 but don’t let his record fool you. Ortiz is a strong fighter with great skills. He has an upcoming fight against Derek Silveira (3-0-0) of Byfield, Massachusetts on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at the Royale f/k/a Roxy, 279 Tremont Street, Boston Massachusetts. It will be four rounds in the 150 pound division. This will be a meaningful fight for Ortiz because Massachusetts is considered home to him. This is where he once lived, trained and the home of his supporters.
The last time Ortiz fought in Massachusetts was on July 26, 2002 against Larry Greene at the Roxy. Ortiz won by a unanimous decision in round four of four. These were hard times for Ortiz personally because the pressure of trying to provide for his family took him down the wrong path. Selling narcotics landed him in and out of jail. The last episode with the law found him serving about six years in prison through 2008.
During the time he served in jail, he did not know what would happen to his boxing career. Trying to live by the motto that only God can judge him, he is currently putting his past behind him and moving forward. Ortiz is very thankful to be able to once again fight in Massachusetts.
I asked Ortiz about his thoughts on his upcoming fight on March 16. He stated, “It’s a great feeling because most of my family and friends live up here. It’s extra motivation. Previously, one of my fighters, Philip Burnette fought Derek Silveira and Silveira won by TKO. Burnette is a tough fighter and I sparred many rounds with him. I know that Silveira is a slick fighter. He’s very fast but I feel that I have more professional fights and more experience as a pro then he has. I’ll be ready to fight him. I’m coming for a victory and hopefully by KO.”
Since this upcoming fight is so meaningful to Ortiz, I wanted to see what it was like to train side by side with a professional boxer. So he included me on a few of his training sessions to show me the amount of work that one has to endure along with the time and energy one puts in just to make weight. There was so much going on in one day. Stretching, bag training, mitt training, sparring, cardio and last but not least … abs. Through his own sweat and my tears of exhaustion I know he will be ready for this fight.
Currently Ortiz is training with “Iceman” John Scully at the Lion’s Den in Middletown, Connecticut and at the South End Community Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. Scully will also be working Ortiz’s corner on the day of the fight.
Other bouts of the evening include an eight round main event featuring “Irish” Joey McCreedy (11-5-2) against New England Light Heavyweight Champion Joe Gardner (7-1-1). There is also a six round co-feature event between Sean Eklund (8-4-0) and Eddie “The Puerto Rican Sensation” Soto (12-2-0). Included in the event are several undercard matches featuring Maceo Crowder (2-0-0), Aleksandra Magdziak Lopes (4-1-0), Jonathan Vazquez (3-0-0) and Frankie Trader (7-0-0). For more information concerning “Boxing at the Royale” please visit www.cesboxing.com
If you would like to see for yourself the passion of Jose “YAYO” Ortiz or any other fighters, tickets can be purchased directly from CES by calling 401-724-2253 or 401-724-2254. It is going to be an exciting night. Get your tickets early because they should sell out quickly.
Currently Ortiz resides with his family in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. You can follow Ortiz’s boxing career on facebook under Jose Angel Ortiz.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
