Vergil Ortiz Jr. predicts an early knockout win for Terence Crawford in his title challenge against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd.
Crawford’s Uncertain Return
No one knows what Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) will bring to this fight against Madrimov because he’s been out of the ring, celebrating his victory over Errol Spence for the last 12 months, and he’s moving up to a weight class he’s never competed at.
Moreover, Crawford is hitting 37, and his resume is one of the weakest of a multi-division world champion, rivaling Adrien Broner in that department. Like Broner, Crawford has been inactive for many years, rarely fighting, and when he does, it’s against guys like David Avanesyan and spent fighters Shawn Porter and Errol Spence.
“Easy work. He f**** him up. He was probably around 180,” said trainer Robert Garcia to ESNEWS, talking about Israil Madrimov during his sparring with Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s Confidence in Crawford’s Victory
“That’s the real reason why I say Crawford is going to get him. I’ve been in the ring with him. Crawford is going to get him in less than seven,” said Vergil Ortiz, predicting an early knockout for Terence Crawford over Madrimov.
There seems to be bad blood between Ortiz and the unbeaten Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) about comments he made in a recent interview. According to Vergil, Madrimov said he was just paying with him during their sparring session.
Vergil Jr. doesn’t believe him. He insists that he dominated their session. His trainer, Robert Garcia, backs him up, saying he won the sparring as if there was such a thing as winning. Do you get a ribbon for doing at sparring?
It sounds a little petty of Vergil Jr. to get worked up over sparring, but he needs to do something to get fans interested in his next fight against WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk. The public has ignored the fight due to the lackluster promotion.
Even with the greatest promotion, the fans wouldn’t be excited. Vergil Jr. has been too inactive in recent years due to his repeated health promotions. He hasn’t fought the quality opposition yet to put himself in a place where fans would take notice of his fights.
Ortiz’s Strategy for Attention?
So, talking about sparring, Israil Madrimov might be Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s best strategy to get some publicity, even if it’s cheap. Hopefully, this doesn’t become Vergil’s career strategy by bragging about sparring stories, hoping to become a training camp star.
“That’s a fight that can happen too,” said Robert Garcia, reacting to Ellie Sechback saying that Vergil Ortiz can knock out Crawford. “Vergil becomes the interim champion, and Crawford is the WBA champion. That’s the next fight that could happen, too.
“So, we go that direction, too,” said Robert, wanting Vergil to fight WBC junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora.
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