By Carlos Boogs, Hector Villarreal
A strange twist in the career saga of WBA interim-heavyweight champion Luis 'The Real King Kong' Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs). The hard puncher is potentially traveling to Russia for his next fight, because Andrey Ryabinsky of World of Boxing has secured the promotional rights after submitting the winning bid at the WBA's scheduled purse bid in Panama - for Ortiz's mandatory defense against #3 ranked Alexander Ustinov (33-1, 24 KOs) of Russia.
World of Boxing was represented at the bids by Vlad Hrunov, who manages Ustinov. The winning bid was $600,000. No other parties took part in the purse bid. Ustinov is promoted by Frank Warren
The absence of Ortiz's promoters is no surprise. As BoxingScene.com reported on Sunday, Ortiz's co-promoters - Golden Boy Promotions and Dade Promotions - are involved in a dispute.
The victor of that contest will go up against the winner of the October rematch between WBA 'super' champion Tyson Fury and challenger Wladimir Klitschko.
Ortiz was scheduled to face Ustinov on September 17th, as part of the HBO Pay-Per-View undercard to Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith. The contest fell apart after the business dispute erupted between Dade Promotions and Golden Boy. Dade Promotions are apparently trying to negotiate a buyout, where they would reclaim 50% of Ortiz's promotional rights from Golden Boy.
According to Jay Jiminez, manager of Ortiz, they will fight Ustinov wherever they have to.
"We're hoping it takes place in the United States so we can showcase Ortiz. We'll fight anywhere, but we would rather stay at home. If the money is right and [Ustinov's team] win the purse bid, we'll fight wherever we've got to fight. We're not going to walk away," Jiminez said to BoxingScene.com.
