RIVERSIDE, Calif. – It’s no longer possible to avoid the spotlight. It’s no longer possible to be avoided by others.
Vergil Ortiz has no time to waste.
With an impressive record of 21-0 with 21 knockouts, Texan Ortiz returns to the ring for the third time this year on Saturday night at the Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas when he takes on interim World Boxing Council junior middleweight champion Serhiy Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs) on DAZN.
Ortiz is plagued by illness, which saw him fight just once in 30 months before returning in January, and it has robbed him of the momentum he built so impressively, shedding the likes of Mauricio Herrera, Antonio Orozco, Maurice Hooker and Egidijus Kavaliauskas.
Ahead of him are the massive fights that the 26-year-old has been fantasizing about.
On Saturday night, before Bohachuk’s training session, Ortiz was watching the Riyadh Season-sponsored American debut of modern four-division champion Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) when he heard Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh say that if Canelo Alvarez wasn’t “shrewd” enough to accept the offer to fight Crawford, Ortiz would be called up.
“Enter me,” Ortiz wrote to Alalshikh on channel “X.”
He then began running ahead of Crawford’s main event and ran seven miles as Crawford fought all 12 rounds, earning a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over retiring Uzbek champion Israil Madrimov.
With Crawford turning 37 next month, the decade-younger Ortiz will enter the fight with Bohachuk, giving him a chance to earn what he wants: a spot for WBC champion Sebastian Fundora or Crawford, with good support from Alalshikh.
“This has been a long wait, coming since I was five years vintage. All the blood, sweat and tears I’ve put into this are starting to come to fruition,” Ortiz said.
Indeed, in his last appearance, Ortiz delivered a blistering body blow and knocked out veteran Thomas Dulorme in the first round of their 154-pound fight in Fresno, California, three months after he defeated Frederick Lawson by first-round knockout.
Lawson and Dulorme have fought a combined 66 career fights, including 362 rounds, but against Ortiz, who is enjoying a fresh start, they come across as outclassed “opponents.”
“This is a modern chapter in my career,” he told BoxingScene during a lengthy interview after training at his trainer Robert Garcia’s gym. “Fighting in Las Vegas is invigorating, and doing it in a legendary venue like Mandalay Bay, where there have been so many good fights… this one will be no exception.”
Ortiz’s enthusiasm for the sport is undeniable. He was there in the Dulorme match when he saw an opening for a kidney shot, delivered it ruthlessly and smiled as his veteran fell to the canvas.
“To see everything we’ve worked for work is special because it shows me that I’m not doing this for nothing and hopefully it proves to everyone that I belong at the top of this sport,” Ortiz said. “I’m here for greatness.”
Ortiz spent so much time on the sidelines due to health issues related to rhabdomyolysis when he fought current champion Eimantas Stanionis at welterweight that he said he avoids thinking about it.
“Completely the past,” he said.
But it could open his mind to the depth of the 154-pound division, which features champions Crawford and Fundora, contenders Tim Tszyu, Errol Spence Jr. and Madrimov, and Bohachuk, a Ukrainian who has defeated five of his last six opponents. Ryan Garcia also called out his Golden Boy Promotions stablemate.
“I really want to fight everyone,” Ortiz said. “We have a future fight with (fellow Texan and former three-belt welterweight champion) Errol Spence at Cowboys Stadium that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. I’d like to fight Crawford because he’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter right now and I’d like to test myself against him.
“Guys like Fundora, a massive, skinny fighter. But I’m counting on Spence, because I want that fight at (AT&T) Stadium. And I’ve sparred with Madrimov before, he’s talented. Crawford is just a different beast.”
Ortiz had previously committed to fighting former champion Tszyu at a recent event in Los Angeles, but Tszyu suffered an ugly cut to his head during his split decision loss to Fundora on March 30 and was forced to withdraw from the fight.
“Different backgrounds, different styles — it’s crazy that it’s like having a smorgasbord of opponents to choose from,” Ortiz said. “I’m not taking (the Ryan Garcia fight) too seriously right now, but nothing is out of the question. I’m not looking too far in the future (beyond Tszyu). It could still happen, and it would be like one of those HBO ‘Legendary Nights’ fights that you’ll never forget.”
Many of these fights have looked like they could be battles that dragged into the later rounds, but Ortiz knows that if he wants to show the tenacity he is capable of in the sport, he will need to pace himself effectively, continuing to look for early stoppages as the competition heats up.
“Physically and mentally, these (wars) take something out of you,” Ortiz said. “Shorter fights extend your career. I like shorter fights. I won’t force them. But I’m always ready for them.”
How does the fight with Bohachuk prepare him for all the carnage that lies ahead?
“The best thing I took from this experience is that he’s experienced… he’s won almost all of his fights by knockout, so it’s a measuring stick for me to see how far I am and what I need to pick up,” Ortiz said. “It’s a good benchmark, a real test that I need to pass.
“And pass the exam with flying colors.”
Serhiy Bohachuk is fighting for his country
https://www.boxingscene.com/serhii-bohachuk-fighting-title-his-country–185201
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