‘I’m here for greatness’: Vergil Ortiz Jr. plans to line up, knock down every 154-pound star

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – No longer is the spotlight evasive. No more is the dodging by others possible.

For Vergil Ortiz, there is no more time to waste.

Boasting the imposing record of 21-0 with 21 knockouts, Texas’ Ortiz returns to the ring for the third time this year Saturday night at Mandalay Bay’s Ultra Arena in Las Vegas when he meets World Boxing Council interim junior-middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs) on DAZN.

Behind Ortiz are the illnesses that saw him fight only once in 30 months before a January return, an episode that robbed him of the career momentum he’d so impressively generated by disposing of the likes of Mauricio Herrera, Antonio Orozco, Maurice Hooker and Egidijus Kavaliauskas.

Before him are the massive fights the 26-year-old has fantasized about.

Leading up to a training run for Bohachuk Saturday night, Ortiz was watching the U.S. debut Riyadh Season-sponsored show headlined by new four-division champion Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) when he heard Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh say that if Canelo Alvarez isn’t “smart” enough to accept an offer to fight Crawford, Ortiz would be summoned.

“Put me in,” Ortiz posted to Alalshikh on “X.”

He then began a run before Crawford’s main event, and logged seven miles in the time it took Crawford to battle through all 12 rounds for a tightly contested unanimous-decision triumph over Uzbekistan’s outgoing champion Israil Madrimov.

As Crawford heads to his 37th birthday next month, the decade-younger Ortiz moves to the Bohachuk fight, an opportunity to be positioned for all that he’s wanted: a next-in-line seat for WBC champion Sebastian Fundora or for Crawford, with Alalshikh’s well-funded backing.

“This has been a long wait, coming since the time I’ve been five years old. All the blood, sweat and tears I’ve invested in this, we’re starting to see the fruits of our labor,” Ortiz said.

Indeed. In his last time out, Ortiz delivered a hellacious body shot and knocked out veteran Thomas Dulorme in the first round of their 154-pound fight in Fresno, Calif., three months after also finishing Frederick Lawson by first-round knockout.

Lawson and Dulorme have combined for 66 career bouts and 362 rounds, but they were left looking like outclassed “opponents” against Ortiz, who is embracing his fresh start.

“This is a new chapter in my career,” he told BoxingScene during an extended interview following a workout at his trainer Robert Garcia’s gym. “To fight in Las Vegas is exciting, and to do it at the legendary venue of Mandalay Bay, where a lot of good fights have happened … this one will be no exception.”

Ortiz’s enthusiasm for the sport is undeniable. It was there against Dulorme, when he saw the kidney-shot opening, delivered it ruthlessly and smiled as his veteran foe crumbled to the canvas.

“To see that all the stuff we’ve been working on works is something special because it shows you I’m not doing all this for nothing, and I hope 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 languishing on the sidelines due to health battles with the condition rhabdomyolysis as a welterweight seeking to fight now-champion Eimantas Stanionis that he said he avoids thinking about it.

“Completely in the past,” he said.

He can, however, open his mind to the depth of the 154-pound division that counts champions Crawford and Fundora, contenders Tim Tszyu, Errol Spence Jr. and Madrimov, and Bohachuk, a Ukrainian who’s finished five of his last six foes. Ryan Garcia has also called out his Golden Boy Promotions stablemate.

“I really want to fight everyone,” Ortiz said. “We’ve got a future fight with (fellow Texan and former three-belt welterweight champion) Errol Spence at Cowboys Stadium that I’ve been wanting for a long time. I would love to fight Crawford, in that he’s No. 1 pound-for-pound right now and I’d love to test myself against him.

“People like Fundora, a big, lanky fighter. But I’m hoping Spence because I want that fight at (AT&T) Stadium. And I’ve sparred Madrimov before, he’s talented. Crawford’s just a different beast.”

Ortiz previously committed to fighting former champion Tszyu on this recent L.A. card, but Tszyu suffered an ugly head cut in his March 30 split-decision title loss to Fundora  and had to withdraw from the bout.

“Different backgrounds, different styles – it’s crazy in that it’s like having a buffet of opponents to choose from,” Ortiz said. “I don’t take (the Ryan Garcia fight) too serious now, but nothing’s off the table. I’m not looking past (Tszyu), either. That still can happen, and that’d be like one of those HBO ‘Legendary Nights’ fights you’d never forget.”

So many of those bouts would seem to be wars that last into the later rounds, but Ortiz knows if he’s to produce the staying power he knows he’s capable of in this sport, he’s going to need to pace himself effectively by continuing to seek even more early stoppages as the competition increases.

“Physically and mentally, those (wars) take something out of you,” Ortiz said. “Shorter fights extend your career. I like the shorter fights. I won’t force it. But I’m always ready for it.”

How does the Bohachuk fight prepare him for all the carnage ahead?

“The best thing I gain from this experience is he’s seasoned … he’s won almost all of his fights by knockout, so it’s a measuring fight for me, to see how far I am and what I need to pick up,” Ortiz said. “It’s a good benchmark, true test that I need to pass.

“And pass it with flying colors.” 

Serhii Bohachuk fighting for his country

https://www.boxingscene.com/serhii-bohachuk-fighting-title-his-country–185201