That time Victor Ortiz entered the ring without knowing his opponent

Former welterweight titleholder Victor Ortiz recently recounted how he once entered into a fight without knowing the identity of his opponent, Emmanuel Clottey.

Ortiz, 37, slugged it out with Ghana’s Clottey in August 2007 in a junior welterweight matchup, recording a 10-round TKO victory in Houston.

Seventeen years after the fight, Ortiz revealed that he only discovered that it was Clottey he was fighting after he entered the ring to face him.

“He was good and an amazing champion,” Ortiz told VLAD TV of Clottey (29-10, 17 KOs), who never won a major title but once contended for the IBF 140-pound belt. “I got a notice about two weeks before the fight.

“‘Ortiz, they need you to fight in a couple weeks.’ ‘Yeah, no problem.’ ‘You don’t wanna know with who?’ ‘No. What weight class?’ ‘One-thirty, 133? What’s your weight right now?’ I’m like, ‘About 150.’ ‘I need you at 133 in two weeks.’ I go, like, ‘Oh, sure. No problem.’

“‘You don’t want the guy’s name?’ ‘No.’ ‘You don’t wanna study him?’ ‘No. We got – what is it? – 10, 12 rounds? Don’t worry about it. I got it.’”

Ortiz (33-7-3, 25 KOs) said his insistence on knowing his opponent during the weigh-in session didn’t matter to his promoters at the time. The Kansas native said he only learned that his opponent would be Clottey during the fighter introductions from ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr.

Ortiz said he felt the promoters of the bout tried to set him up to lose to Clottey.

“So I went down to Laughlin, Nevada, and I just remembered, I’m in the ring and I still don’t know who I’m fighting,” Ortiz said. “They didn’t tell me. I went on the scales, I weighed in and made my way. I still don’t know who I’m fighting. They told me, ‘Vic, go and eat.’ I responded, ‘But I wanna see whom I’m fighting against.’ ‘Don’t worry about it. Just go and eat.’ ‘Alright.’

“I told them to make sure he’s not overweight because I made my weight. I went to eat. It’s almost 9 p.m. I asked, ‘Did we ever figure out who I’m fighting?’ The only response that came was, ‘Vic, they know who you’re fighting. Just relax, man. You think too much. Alright.’

“I’m walking into the ring and I still don’t know who I’m fighting. Now they’re announcing, “Ladies and gentlemen, Jimmy Leonard Jr. … ‘It’s Showtime!’ I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness. This is so cool.’ And the announcement continued, “From the red corner, the challenger,” and I’m like, ‘Challenger? What are you guys talking about?’

“Wait. What? The challenger? ‘And here in the blue corner, the reigning, defending …’ I’m like, ‘Oh, no. Oh, OK. I see what’s going on. Alright. So the promoters are trying to set me up. Alright. I got you. Not today.’

“So I went to the center of the ring, shook hands,” Ortiz continued. “Hey, champ. I love you, but you’re done. Boom. I came in, pulled off the victory. I was like, ‘Yeah.’ I was so happy. I was like, ‘Wow.’”

After the fight, Ortiz said Clottey congratulated him and the fighters became good friends.

“Yeah, he was like, ‘You hit very hard,’ and I said, ‘You hit hard, too.’ But his eyes were all messed up and he’s all closed. The next morning, I’m in the elevator going home and I saw him all bruised up with glasses on. So we just took a big picture.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].