Serhii Bohachuk spends some time talking to Fight Hub TV about his upcoming fight against Vergil Ortiz, his previous experiences training with him, and touches on topics such as why he thinks Terence Crawford will beat Israil Madrimov and his expectations that Vasily Lomachenko will not fight again. Below you can read some fragments of his speech.

Bohachuk on knowing Ortiz’s style

“I know his style. I have experience training with him, I spar with him, I spend a lot of time sparring with him, maybe 50 rounds, yes. Maybe 50, maybe 70 rounds with him in sparring. Sparring is sparring, fighting is fighting – it’s different. I know his style, he’s quick, he’s powerful, he’s a Mexican boxer and he’s astute. He thinks, you know. He thinks, he moves, he has a good punch, good conditioning, he is a good player.

“And he knows me too… he knows he has to prepare 100% for this fight, and I will be 101% ready for this fight.” This will be war. It’s very compelling.”

On whether he thinks he’ll be able to handle Ortiz’s power in a real fight given his sparring experiences with him

“Nice power and not very, very powerful. You know, sparring is a different glove. Sparring with larger gloves and headgear is a completely different matter. And the fight is more compelling because of the miniature gloves and powerful punches. And keep fighting, it will be compelling.

“I have to be careful in this fight. You know, this guy has 21 (wins), 21 KOs. He can hit. I have to be different, be careful… I have to be careful for 12 rounds. As my coach Manny Robles told me, “you have to be careful in the first round, for 12 rounds.” Same thing. And I know it, I have to be careful and astute with him, and not just throw, throw, throw punches… I have to show cleverness in this fight, astute aggression.

About what he thinks about the Crawford vs. Madrimov fight

“Crawford wins this fight, I think Crawford is better. Madrimov is a good boxer, Madrimov is a good punch, good technique, and Crawford is better, Crawford is stronger, Crawford is faster, smarter. That’s my opinion, I think Crawford will win this fight.”

At Lomachenko he refuses to fight Tank

“Why? Because Lomachenko is aged. Where was Gervonta a few years ago when Lomachenko was the best? Now Lomachenko is older, Lomachenko is not stronger, many people want to fight him and ‘let’s go’. Where was this guy a few years ago when Lomachenko achieved peak? Where?

“I think (Lomachenko) doesn’t feel too powerful, he’s a little tired. Of course it’s aged. He’s 37, right. 37 years aged, come on. He’s had a long career, a great career, he’s been working for maybe 30 years, he’s working, he’s working difficult… he’s tired, come on guys. He’s not a robot, he’s people like you, like me, and he needed a break.

On whether he thinks Lomachenko can come back next year and compete at the highest level with someone like Tank

“I think maybe he’s not back yet. I think maybe so (retires)… I don’t think he’s a year delayed(r). He comes back and says “I want to stay”… No, he needs some uncomplicated fights and he’s not going to have that time. He’s aged. I don’t think he came back.”

Turki Alalshikh continues to make his mark in boxing with his season in Riyad, officially signing partnerships with both Top Rank and Golden Boy.

Alakshikh made both announcements on social media today, indicating that these moves are aimed at continuing the promotion of world-class boxing events taking place around the world.

At the top level, Riyadh Season will sponsor 12 events by the end of the year and into 2025.

As for Golden Boy, the press release was a little less specific regarding the number of events they will be sponsoring, but did mention that this will kick off with the upcoming Serheii Bohachuk vs Vergil Ortiz fight on August 8. 10.

Interestingly, Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya recently said that the Saudis have not approached him about any potential buyout – and to be clear, this is not a buyout situation – but it shows their growing commitment to working with major players boxing.

As Terence Crawford prepares to move up in weight to challenge Israil Madrimov, he spends some time talking to the boxing media about his thoughts on this fight, what comes next and why he’s telling Shakur Stevenson to block the negative criticism. Below you can read some fragments of his speech.

Crawford on Madrimov’s style, which he will want to neutralize

“Just everything about him. He is a decorated amateur with extensive experience in the amateur field. He may only have 11 fights, but he has 11 fights and he’s the world champion for a reason, so I have to respect everything about him, just like I have to respect everything about every other opponent I fight in the ring with, because everyone brings something different to the table. “

During his last sparring session with Andre Ward

“It was awesome. I appreciate Dre for even giving me the opportunity to get in the ring with him. I can say that I sparred with Andre Ward, it’s great. So it was a good sparring, it was a very good experience for me, I will take it to my grave.

On whether he expects the fight against Madrimov to be technically challenging

“It could be. Like I’ve said in the past, every fight can be my hardest fight. I don’t know until I get in the ring. Israil is definitely a tough opponent, we don’t take him lightly, we have never cut corners in this fight and we’ll see.”

On the recent criticism of Shakur Stevenson’s latest performance

“Well, Shakur is one of the best boxers in the game, if not the best boxer, then a pure boxer. So I just tell Shakur, keep doing what you’ve been doing, don’t worry about the negative attention you get, don’t worry about the reaction you get for beating the guy convincingly. Not everyone is a knockout puncher, not everyone will go in there and knock out all their opponents. As long as you’re winning in a fashion where there’s no question who the winner is, you’re doing something right.”