Tito Ortiz ‘Lost Respect’ For Anderson Silva For Making Boxing Match At 195 Pounds
Tito Ortiz lost respect for Anderson Silva during negotiations for their boxing match.
It was recently revealed that Ortiz and Silva would box on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Vitor Belfort event promoted by Triller taking place September 11.
It notably comes a few months after Silva returned to boxing when he outpointed Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in impressive fashion.
This latest bout will take place at 195 pounds. Silva usually competed at 185 pounds in the UFC and has fought at 205 before. Ortiz, meanwhile, hasn’t competed professionally below 205 pounds.
That is why he lost respect for Silva for making the him cut down to that weight for their upcoming contest.
“I’m excited. I’ve been boxing almost my whole career, but now it’s an opportunity that I don’t have to worry about wrestling or Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” Ortiz told TMZ (via BJ Penn). “I don’t need to worry about knees or kicks. Now I get to focus strictly on boxing. I’m excited. I’m thankful to Triller for giving me this opportunity. I’m thankful to Anderson for finally taking the fight. There was a little negotiating on his part. I had a lot of respect for Anderson. But to do what he did for the contract, I lost respect for him, man.
“He wants me down to 195lbs. He’s fought at 205lbs six times in his career. He wants me down to 195lbs so it shows that he’s afraid of my power. People don’t realize that I’m a pretty decent puncher and I’ve gotten better over the last six years. I’ve gotten really good over the last 34 years.”
Ortiz even revealed the last time he weighed 195 pounds was when he was in college wrestling. That said, it’s providing plenty of motivation for him.
“The last time I was 195lbs was I think my sophomore year in college wrestling,” Ortiz said. “I’ll make (the weight). I’ll try. I’ll cut off my leg to make the weight. I’ll try. I’ve never missed weight in my whole career, but Anderson kind of pushed the limit of doing that.
“But once again, I lost respect for the guy, man. He’s one of the best mixed martial artists but I lost respect for him. So it gives me a little more energy, a little more aggressiveness during camp to punch this guy’s face off.”
