Luis Ortiz vs Charles Martin headline first PPV of 2022 in stacked heavyweight card

Heavyweights Luis Ortiz (32-2, 27 KOs) and Charles Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) will fight in the first Pay-Per-View of 2022. Both will headline a New Years FOX Sports PBC PPV card composed of five heavyweight fights, held from Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.  

The fight between top Cuban heavyweight ”King Kong” Luis Ortiz and former world champion Charles Martin will be a 12-round IBF heavyweight title eliminator and looks to be fireworks from the start. 

Both Charles and Ortiz are knockout punchers and are at the top ladder of the heavyweights, along with each having been in the ring with the top in the division. Ortiz, 42, fought former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder twice losing both by KO but displaying a high-quality pedigree and power in the ring against one of boxing’s biggest punchers. Martin, 35, faced former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in London, England, where he lost his IBF heavyweight title via a second round knockout. 

Both men are looking to re-establish themselves amongst the top five heavyweights, where Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury reign as champions, and know that in order to do so they must start off the new year with an explosive performance. 

Coming into the fight, both heavyweights haven’t fought in over a year with both of their last fights being victories by stoppage. Martin defeated Gerald Washington via a sixth round TKO on Feb, 6, 2020 and Ortiz knocked out Alexander Flores in the first round of a ten-rounder on Nov, 7, 2020. A win for either would be an amazing start to the year, as well as a lottery ticket to a heavyweight title fight

The undercard of this all-heavyweight card includes Frank “The Cuban Flash” Sanchez (19-0, 13 KOs) facing Puerto Rican Olympian Carlos Negron (25-3, 20 KOs) in the 10-rounder co-main event. Trained by Mexican trainer Eddy Reynoso, Sanchez, 29, is coming off the biggest win in his career against previously unbeaten Efe Ajagbe, while Negron, 34, who trains alongside Ortiz is looking to extend his three-fight winning streak. 

The rest of the undercard includes Jonnie Rice (14-6, 10 KOs) facing Michael Coffie (12-1, 9 KOs) in a rematch of their July fight where the latter was stopped in the fifth-round. Gerald Washington (20-4-1, 13 KOs) will also be facing 2016 Turkish Olympian Ali Eren Demirezen (14-1, 11 KOs), while Viktor Faust (8-0, 6 KOs) will be squaring off against Iago Kiladze (27-5-1, 19 KOs). 

The FOX Sports PBC PPV broadcast begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.