Photo credit: Naoki Fukuda

Heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz has a new opponent for March 5 on HBO and it’s someone who really, really wants to fight him and has been calling him out recently.

The undefeated RING-rated No. 5 heavyweight will face former title challenger Tony Thompson on HBO Boxing After Dark (10 p.m. ET), Golden Boy Promotions announced on Monday.

The bout will come after a co-feature scrap between Sadam Ali and Jessie Vargas for the vacant WBO welterweight title at the D.C. Armory in Washington, DC.

Alexander Dimitrenko was initially lined up to face Ortiz (24-0, 21 knockouts) but reportedly was bypassed for financial reasons. Ortiz has become a recent darling of the boxing media after he took apart Bryant Jennings in December, stopping him in the seventh round.

The Cuban apparently doesn’t think much of Thompson’s chances against him.

“This fight is just another stepping stone on my path to becoming the unified heavyweight world champion,” Ortiz said in a statement. “I came to the United States to chase my American Dream and fighting at the nation’s capital is a dream come true. My life is coming full circle, and I know that this fight will put me a step closer to achieving everything I have worked so hard for in my career.”

Thompson, who is from the D.C. area, has been calling out Ortiz for sometime. But his recent activity hasn’t exactly backed up his boasts.

Thompson lost a decision to Malik Scott last October in his last fight and was stopped in six rounds by Wladimir Klitschko in 2012. The 44-year-old has lost three of his last five fights.

“I’m happy to be back on HBO fighting for another world title,” Thompson said in the release. “If you look at my competition and his [Ortiz], it’s not even close. This isn’t the amateurs. I’m going to use my experience as a professional to take him places he’s never been. Odlanier Solis was a great Cuban amateur but he was also an Olympic Gold Medalist, and I beat him twice. Ortiz thinks he has it tough. I’ve been avoided for my entire career. Just about all my fights have been on short notice and in foreign countries. If I fought the guys Ortiz fought, I’d be undefeated too. If Ortiz is King Kong, I’m Godzilla; Godzilla coming to whoop some ass!”