IF Victor Ortiz has his career on the line when he returns on Saturday night against Manuel Perez he is not showing it.
Ortiz, 27, has lost his last three, too Floyd Mayweather, Luis Collazo and Josesito Lopez, but has found success elsewhere, with a run on the TV show Dancing with the Stars and a spoken part in the Hollywood blockbusters The Expendables 3.
He says he is looking forward to returning.
“Absolutely,” he said. “It’s been a while but I’m finally back.”
When asked where boxing figures in his list of priorities, he maintains he is putting the sport first.
“You know what? I’m back,” he continued. “I detoured for a little while, I had to, I had a broken jaw, but am I going to sit there and feel sorry for myself? Absolutely not. I took on another market. I became pretty powerful in it as well.”
He says he is not looking at any of the other fights on the bill and that his focus is solely on Perez. He is also not bothered by detractors who point to his spotty recent record.
“You know,” he said, “what anyone says or feels about me is not relevant. I don’t really care what anyone has got to say. I’m living in today, I’m living in this weekend and not in the past. Things happen.”
Asked about Amir Khan-Devon Alexander he simply said: “That’s their fight, I have mine.”