Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz officially on for November 4th

Deontay Wilder will defend his WBC heavyweight title against Luis Ortiz on Nov. 4 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. A formal announcement is scheduled for Wednesday in New York.

Wilder (38-0, 37 KO’s) will be making his sixth title defense and his second fight of 2017. He stopped Gerald Washington on Feb. 25 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Ortiz (27-0, 23 KO’s), 38, has not fought all year. His last fight was a seventh-round TKO in December 2016 over the unknown David Allen in a scheduled eight-round contest in Manchester.

As previously reported by FightNights.com, before the fight was finalized, Wilder’s team voiced their dissatisfaction with the date the bout fell on the same day as the Alabama vs. LSU college football game. They feared that more people would rather tune into the game than a fight. Additionally, the fight would take place on the same evening as UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden.

But Wilder, who has been criticized for his lack of quality opposition, badly wanted a challenging fight. He now has that in Ortiz, who is coming off an 11-month layoff, but is known for his devastating punching power.

As of Monday, the undercard will include former WBC heavyweight world champion Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KO’s) taking on 2012 U.S. Olympian Dominic Breazeale (18-1, 16 KO’s), per ESPN.

Stiverne, who is the mandatory challenger to Wilder, agreed to a step-aside deal to allow Wilder to fight Ortiz. He held the WBC strap from November 2014 to January 2015 before being routed by Wilder in a one-sided affair.