Former Floyd Mayweather opponent Victor Ortiz made millions from boxing, owned houses and reached the top of the sport. Then the former world champion lost everything and ended up homeless.
The revelation creates a startling parallel with another fighter forever connected to Mayweather.
Serafim Todorov famously defeated Mayweather at the 1996 Olympics before eventually falling on hard times himself.
Todorov never had the opportunity to earn the professional riches that later became available to Ortiz. Yet despite their vastly different journeys through boxing, both eventually experienced homelessness.
Ortiz has now described exactly how far he fell.
“It’s beautiful in the end because not only did I lose all my millions that I had, I lost my houses, I lost everything,” Ortiz told the Street Gospel Podcast.
“I ended up homeless, I ended up nowhere to go.”
Victor Ortiz Lost Everything
Ortiz reached boxing’s biggest stage when he faced Mayweather for the WBC welterweight title in September 2011.
The fight ended controversially in the fourth round after Ortiz deliberately headbutted Mayweather and was deducted a point.
Ortiz apologized before Mayweather knocked him out as the action resumed.
Whatever the controversy surrounding the finish, Ortiz had reached a financial level Todorov never experienced.
Todorov went in the opposite direction.
The Bulgarian won their Olympic semi-final by a 10-9 decision before losing to Somluck Kamsing in the final and collecting silver.
Years later, Todorov experienced homelessness and struggled financially despite remaining the last man to officially defeat Mayweather.
Mayweather himself previously expressed sympathy for his former amateur rival.
“That same guy that I lost to is now homeless, and I feel bad,” Mayweather said. “I wish him nothing but the best.”
Ortiz’s story is strikingly different because he actually reached the riches Todorov never did, and then he lost them.
Millions to Homelessness
Ortiz says losing his fortune also showed him who remained when the money disappeared.
“But it was beautiful because everyone who, who said, ‘Oh, you’re my friend, you’re my brother,’ gave me a nice middle finger, turned their back on me.
“It was awesome to watch. So the Victor that started with nothing rose to the top, back to nothing. Didn’t break me.”
Ortiz credits his faith with helping him through the lowest point of his life.
“Especially this time around didn’t break me even more so because I had Jesus in my heart.
“And Jesus says in the word, ‘What the enemy has stole, I will, I will return.’
“So and from there I was just like, ‘You know what? May it be His will.’
“And I said, ‘I’m in the desert right now. I’m okay. I will arise, but it’ll be in His time.’”
Boxing has produced the same brutal riches-to-rags story for generations.
Todorov beat Mayweather but never received the professional millions that followed. Ortiz reached the top, earned the money and bought the houses, only to find himself without any of them.
Two fighters from completely different sides of Mayweather’s career ultimately sank to the same low.
Ortiz, however, is already attempting to rebuild. He won his BKB debut and is now scheduled to face former two-weight world champion Paulie Malignaggi later this year.
The former WBC champion started with nothing, reached the top and returned to nothing again. Now, at another unlikely stage of his fighting career, Ortiz is trying to rise once more.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.
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