ORTIZ: "I DON'T CARE ABOUT CANELO... I'M FOCUSED ON LOPEZ."
By John McCormick

Former WBC welterweight champion "Vicious" Victor Ortiz claims that he is focused on the task at hand, Josesito Lopez, whom Ortiz will face next Saturday, June 23rd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Showtime card was originally scheduled to rematch Ortiz and Andre Berto, but Lopez replaced Berto, who tested positive for a banned substance.  Yesterday, Golden Boy Promotions announced that Ortiz would challenge Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on September 15th for the WBC 154-pounf title. But Ortiz says he isn't thinking about September yet. "As far as Im concerned, Im fighting a great fighter in Josesito Lopez on June 23rd. I dont care about Canelo right now," claimed Ortiz during a media conference call earlier today.

For his part, Lopez feels belittled and extra-motivated to hand Ortiz his fourth professional loss next Saturday. "I feel very disrespected by Victor Ortiz's announcement to fight Canelo. But this is even more motivation for me" said Lopez.

Ortiz has been inconsistent throughout his young career. He has shown tremendous talent in his win over Berto and draw with Lamont Peterson, but he exhibited major mental weaknesses in losses to Marcos Maidana and Floyd Mayweather. When I asked Ortiz if he would ever be interested in pursuing a Maidana rematch to make up for the June 2009 loss, Ortiz evasively responded by stating, "you have to be one of the most negative reporters to ever interview me, but hey I guess that's your job."

It appears as if Maidana isn't on his radar anytime soon.


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