By Ryan Burton

Jay Jimenez, manager of heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz (29-1), has advised krikya360.com that an agreement to face Travis Kauffman (32-2) is nearly finalized. The fight will take place on the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury pay-per-view undercard on December 1st in Los Angeles, California.

“Luis hs already agreed to terms,” Jimenez told krikya360.com. “We are just waiting for a call back but it’s 99% done.”

The fight will be Ortiz’s third of 2018 and Kauffman’s second of the year.

Ortiz nearly pulled off a major upset when he had Wilder out on his feet and in serious trouble during their March fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. But the champion recovered and stopped Ortiz in the 10th round. 

The Cuban puncher bounced back from his first career defeat with a 2nd round knockout of Rozvan Cojanu in July.

Kauffman hasn’t been nearly as active. After fighting just once in 2017, he traded first round knockdowns with Scott Alexander in June in a majority decision victory. 

He's only been stopped once, when he got caught cold by Tony Grano back in 2009.

If he is victorious, Ortiz hopes to secure a rematch against Wilder or fights against Anthony Joshua or Dillian Whyte.

The rest of the Wilder-Fury pay-per-view undercard is expected to be announced in the near future.

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