Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Serhii Bohachuk each made the junior middleweight limit for their main event Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Ortiz and Bohachuk came in at the same number – 153.8 pounds – with Ortiz standing behind a black towel while on the scale, according to BoxingScene’s Lance Pugmire, who attended the official weigh-in on Friday morning. A ceremonial weigh-in, open to the public, was to be held a couple hours later.
Ortiz (21-0, 21 KOs), a 26-year-old from Dallas, is a former junior welterweight prospect and welterweight contender who moved up in weight earlier this year following some health issues that sidelined him and stalled his momentum.
Among those health issues was a diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis, in which muscle tissue breaks down, enters the bloodstream and threatens the kidneys. Ortiz was off for nearly 12 months between his August 2021 win over Egidijus Kavaliauskas and a rescheduled August 2022 fight with Michael McKinson. He then spent another 17 months on the shelf between the McKinson victory and this past January’s return, a bit above the junior middleweight limit, against Fredrick Lawson.
One fight that was supposed to have taken place during that second layoff, and which would have moved Ortiz’s career forward, was with fellow welterweight contender Eimantas Stanionis. Alas, it never took place. The Stanionis match was postponed twice – first when Stanionis had to have his appendix removed, then when Ortiz’s rhabdomyolysis returned – before being called off altogether when Ortiz fainted from dehydration.
Ortiz has had a pair of first-round knockouts this year, stopping Fredrick Lawson controversially and then making short work of faded and undersized Thomas Dulorme in April. The Dulorme fight also had a contractual weight limit slightly above 154 pounds.
Bohachuk is a 29-year-old from Ukraine now fighting out of Los Angeles. He is 24-1 (23 KOs). That loss came via eighth-round TKO against Brandon Adams back in 2021. Bohachuk has won six straight since, going the distance for the first time in March, when he dominated Brian Mendoza.
Bohachuk wasn’t originally supposed to face Mendoza on that card, a pay-per-view originally scheduled with a headliner of Tim Tszyu vs. Keith Thurman. Instead, Bohachuk was supposed to face Fundora for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title.
But Thurman got hurt in training camp and Fundora stepped in, with that WBC belt on the line alongside Tszyu’s WBO title. Fundora won that fight, and Bohachuk earned the WBC’s interim title with his won over Mendoza, preserving his spot as next in line.
That position is on the line against Ortiz. The winner is expected to be a contender in a junior middleweight division that is in the process of reshuffling.
Here are weights for the televised undercard on DAZN (beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Time / 1 a.m. BST) and the preliminary fights streaming for free on DAZN and via Golden Boy Promotions’ YouTube page (beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern Time / 10 p.m. BST).
DAZN main broadcast undercard:
Charles Conwell vs. Khiary Gray
Conwell: 153.8 pounds
Gray: 154.0 pounds***
***Gray initially came in at 154.6 but later made weight
Conwell (19-0, 14 KOs) was off for nearly a year and a half before returning this April, scoring a sixth-round technical knockout of Nathaniel Gallimore.
Gray is 18-6 (13 KOs) and returned last December from his own 25-month layoff.
Kenneth Sims Jr. vs. Jhonatan Romero: Weigh-in postponed until later on Friday
This weigh-in was not able to be held alongside the other fighters. Sims’ initially scheduled opponent, Jair Valtierra, was unable to make it into the United States. Romero was selected as a last-minute replacement but had not yet arrived on site, though he sent the Nevada State Athletic Commission a photo of him at 146.2 pounds.
Sims (20-2-1, 7 KOs) is a junior welterweight who last fought in May 2023, when he took a majority decision over Batyr Akhmedov. That extended Sims’ winning streak to seven in a row since a 2018 decision loss to Samuel Teah.
More than a decade ago, Romero (35-4, 19 KOs) was a titleholder in the 122-pound weight class, picking up a vacant belt in February 2013 but then losing it to Kiko Martinez via TKO six months later. Romero has lost three in a row, knocked out in three rounds by junior lightweight Abraham Nova in July 2023, knocked out in one by junior lightweight Albert Bell in March and then outpointed by junior welterweight Manuel Jaimes less than a month ago.
Gabriela Fundora vs. Daniela Asenjo
Fundora: 109.8 pounds
Asenjo: 111.2 pounds
Gabriela Fundora will defend her IBF flyweight world title against Daniela Asenjo. Fundora is one-half of a pair of titleholder siblings, the other half being junior middleweight Sebastian Fundora. Gabriela (13-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Arely Mucino in five rounds for the belt last October and defended it in January with a 10th-round TKO of Christina Cruz.
Asenjo is (16-3-3, 2 KOs) and is coming off a March decision victory over Victoria Torres Canul.
Joel Iriarte vs. Miguel Ortiz
Iriarte: 146.4
Ortiz: 143.6 pounds
Welterweight prospect Iriarte is 3-0 (3 KOs). This is his fourth fight in five months. Ortiz is 3-1 (1 KO) and fighting for the first time in six and a half years.
Prelims:
UPDATED: Cecilia Braekhus vs. Maricela Cornejo
Braekhus: 154.8 pounds***
Cornejo: 153 pounds
***Braekhus came in overweight and may be returning to the scales later, according to BoxingScene’s Lance Pugmire. (UPDATE: Braeklhus was still annoucned at 154 and three-quarters at the ceremonial weigh-in.) Braekhus’ promoter, Tom Loeffler, was attempting to get the contractual weight limit changed to avoid a fine from the commission.
Braekhus, the former undisputed welterweight champion is 37-2-1 (9 KOs), suffering those defeats in championship losses to Jessica McCaskill in 2020 and 2021. Braekhus has since had two fights at 154, fighting to a draw with titleholder Terri Harper last October.
Cornejo is a late replacement for Ema Kozin, a unified titleholder who was unable to get her visa in time for entering the United States. Cornejo is 19-6 (7 KOs) and has won three straight since a 2023 decision loss to Claressa Shields.
Eric Priest vs. Luka Lozo
Priest: 159 pounds
Lozo: 160 pounds
Priest is 13-0 (8 KOs). Lozo is 9-2-1 (8 KOs).
Johnny Canas vs. Joseph Cruz Brown
Canas: 136.8 pounds
Brown: 132 pounds
Canas is 4-0 (2 KOs). Brown is 7-9 (3 KOs).
Figo Ramirez vs. Jose Silva Gonzalez
Ramirez: 119.8 pounds
Gonzalez: 121.4 pounds***
***Gonzalez has an hour to make whatever the contractual weight limit is. We will update this story when more information is available.
Ramirez is 6-0 (3 KOs). Gonzalez is 5-0-1 (4 KOs).
UPDATED: Jordan Fuentes’ fight in flux
Fuentes came in at 122.4 pounds. His opponent, James Mulder, was required to come in no heavier than 127.4 pounds but showed up at 128, according to Pugmire. Although the fight was initially thought to be off, Mulder was seen running and shadow boxing in the Vegas heat trying to make weight.
Fuentes is making his pro debut. Mulder is 0-2.
Jennah Creason vs. Kelsey Wickstrum
Creason: 144.6 pounds
Wickstrum: 146.6 pounds
Creason is making her pro debut. Wickstrum is 2-1 (1 KO).
Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
Read the full article here
