Chris Algieri’s School of Thought: Vergil Ortiz Jr. is ready for Tim Tszyu after coming of age

Vergil Ortiz Jr. deserved the decision over Serhii Bohachuk. He won more rounds. He spent more time in control than Bohachuk. And he showed some good boxing skills. 

The two knockdowns he suffered were legitimate. But he recovered well from them – especially the second, in Round 8, when he won the remainder of the round. 

Ortiz dug deeper when he needed to. He closed out victory in the 11th and 12th rounds, and despite being hit more often than we’re used to seeing – Bohachuk again proved he’s a very good puncher – Ortiz ultimately was very effective. 

The right fighter got the decision that he deserved at the end of a hotly contested fight. Very soon the time will come when the perceived controversy is forgotten about and when this will instead become a fight that Ortiz won and went the 12-round distance for the first time.

A year ago illness meant his career was in jeopardy. Ortiz has also been threatened by inactivity. The fight with Eimantas Stanionis would have been transformative, but it just didn’t happen. All of which means he needed the fight with Bohachuk. 

The flaws in his performance on Saturday owe to that inactivity – he may well have fought recently, but having moved to junior middleweight he had been matched with two blown-up welterweights. Bohachuck was the first legitimate 154-pound fighter he was matched with. Ortiz not only went the distance for the first time, but he also had to deal with adversity, and he did so admirably. 

He argued against both knockdowns, which instinctively a fighter will often do. But the second of those he handled perfectly – he fought like a fighter possessed, and he quickly backed up Bohachuk, which potentially has something to do with their previous sparring. He’ll be a better fighter for those 12 rounds; he’ll also have realized he needs to improve, because he boxed by moving and jabbing in a way we hadn’t really seen him do after he wasn’t able to blast through Bohachuk like he could his opponents at 147 pounds. 

Bohachuk also enhanced his reputation on Saturday. He’s another world-class fighter and good enough to win a world title at 154 pounds, where Terence Crawford – the division’s leading fighter – Israil Madrimov, Bakhram Murtazaliev, Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora are all also established. Crawford aside, they’re all young. Errol Spence Jr. is also expected to establish himself there, which makes the division even more exciting – and not least because of the nature of the matchups that exist. There’s so much variety in the fighting styles and frames – Bohachuk’s two-fisted power, Ortiz’s athleticism and IQ, Fundora’s height and the improving, talented Tszyu.

I really like the prospect of the fight between Ortiz and Tszyu being revived. Ortiz has always seemed hungry, and through being active he seems to have an increased sense of motivation. So it’s not unthinkable that the fight could happen before the end of 2024 – particularly given that Tszyu seems to share his drive.

There has also been talk of Ortiz fighting Crawford. I don’t see that as being Ortiz’s best next move, but, as ever, timing and money are crucial – there aren’t many times a fighter gets the opportunity to fight someone of that status and caliber, and to earn the money that goes with that territory. In my career, that opportunity came against Manny Pacquiao, in 2015, and the timing really wasn’t kind for me. But it presented me with the chance to test myself against a living legend and to earn life-changing money. It’s also relevant that not so long ago Oritz suffered a recurrence of rhabdomyolysis, a condition diagnosed in him as a symptom of long Covid that can damage the heart and kidneys and cause permanent disability or even death. Being kept out of the ring like that can heighten a fighter’s hunger and desire, and make them feel like they need to move faster and make up ground.

Bernard Hopkins, of Ortiz’s promoter Golden Boy, has spoken about Ortiz fighting Charles Conwell, which is another matchup I like. Conwell is another talented fighter, and while he’s not proven at the world level, he’s good enough to be tested there.

Also on Saturday, Angelo Leo became a world champion by upsetting the odds to dethrone Luis Alberto Lopez as the IBF featherweight champion. He deserved better than to be considered the underdog he was – his sound fundamentals meant he had the potential to defeat an unorthodox opponent like Lopez. 

Leo has a fine jab and counter-overhand right. He’s a good body puncher, and his hand positions are good. He’s also solid and durable. But outside of those who had watched his previous three fights on ProBox TV, he was sometimes dismissed as an inside fighter who had lost down the stretch to Stephen Fulton. Leo, unlike Lopez, also trained at altitude for a fight that, in Alburquerque, New Mexico, took place at altitude. 

If Top Rank has options on Leo, it’ll be very easy for the promoter to match him with another of the leading featherweights it works with – perhaps against Robeisy Ramirez or Rafael Espinoza.