Luis Ortiz isn’t exactly sure of the next step in his career.

What he is certain of is who he won’t next face, despite promises to the contrary.

The former two-time heavyweight challenger was chief among those let down—though not surprised—by the recent announcement of Andy Ruiz next facing unbeaten fringe heavyweight contender Tyrone Spong (14-0, 13KOs). Ruiz-Spong is due to take place July 16 on a Triller Pay-Per-View event from Plaza de Toros in Mexico City, Ruiz’s first fight in Mexico since 2010 and his first fight anywhere since a twelve-round decision win over Chris Arreola last May 1 in Carson, California.

“He’s a coward, I don’t know what else to say about him,” Ortiz told BoxingScene.com on Thursday, still processing the announcement a day later. “We were told this guy wanted to fight us. He took a tune-up because he wasn’t ready for us. Now he goes and takes this fight, it’s not even a tune-up.”  

Ruiz (34-2, 22KOs) was originally due to face Arreola in 2020, before the pandemic ruined those plans. The former WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight titlist was left without a fight for nearly seventeen months following his points loss to Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22KOs) in their December 2019 rematch. That fight ended a six-month title reign after claiming the belts in a June 2019 seventh-round knockout at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Miami’s Ortiz (33-2, 28KOs) and his team were in attendance for Ruiz-Arreola for the sole intention of challenging the winner. Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) represents both Ruiz (and Ortiz, with all involved parties suggesting the fight was doable. Ortiz waited to the point of instead accepting a fight with former IBF heavyweight titlist Charles Martin before revisiting what was a promised fight by PBC and even Ruiz’s team. Wednesday’s announcement clearly noted otherwise.

“I spoke to Ruiz’s father last year on the Ruiz-Arreola card,” German Caicedo, Ortiz’s career-long trainer, told BoxingScene.com. “They said, 'Absolutely, we want that fight.’ Then we hear that he wants another fight. We wanted him in July. He wanted another month, which we were fine with.

“Then [Triller] announces this shit. He announced this when he told us he wouldn’t be ready for another month. Ruiz is full of sh!t. He just never wanted to fight us.”

The frustration on the part of Ortiz—whose only career defeats came in title challenges of then-unbeaten WBC champ Deontay Wilder (42-2-1, 41KOs—is the absence of a feasible challenge on the horizon.

Most of the other top heavyweights are tied up over the next few months, which will leave the 43-year-old Cuban southpaw limited to accepting a stay-busy level fight. One was already taken in his first fight since the pandemic, a 45-second blitzing of Alexander Flores in November 2020, 50 weeks after his repeat knockout loss to Wilder after outboxing the Alabama slammer for much of their November 2019 rematch.

More than a year passed before Ortiz landed back in the ring this past New Year’s Day. Ortiz was forced to overcome two knockdowns to twice drop and eventually stop Martin in the sixth-round of a low-budget Fox Sports PPV from Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, barely an hour from his Miami hometown. The hope was greater activity and versus competition on par with another former heavyweight titlist in Ruiz, who even took to social media to gauge interest in such a fight and which produced favorable returns. 

Instead came the announcement of his fight with Spong, which was met with largely negative reaction—though notably absent of a quote from or confirmation by Ruiz himself. 

Meanwhile, Ortiz and his team have wasted the past several months waiting for a promised fight that they doubt will ever see the light of day.

“It happens every time,” insists Caicedo. “They talk all this stuff about Luis, then they run when it comes time to fight him. I don’t understand it, but I guess I do. We’re in a sport where you can punch another man in the face and get away with it—and get paid for it—but these guys are too pussy to follow through on their word. I’m disappointed in Andy but I can’t say I’m surprised.”

PBC representatives have not yet responded to an inquiry from BoxingScene.com questioning the fallout, Ruiz’s current standing with the company or what’s next for Ortiz.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox