Promoter Tom Loeffler says Vergil Ortiz Jr’s busted-up face and two knockdowns are proof that he deserved a loss against WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk last Saturday night in their clash at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Unfortunately for Loeffler and Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KOs), the judges didn’t see it their way, giving the popular Golden Boy-promoted fighter Vergil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) a 12-round majority decision by the scores 113-113, 114-112 and 114-112.
“Serhii did not lose that fight”
“Serhii did not lose that fight. He came in here as the champion and had Vergil’s face all busted up, but somehow he came out losing the fight,” said promoter Tom Loeffler to the Fight Hub TV forum about his fighter Serhii Bohachuk’s loss to Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Bohachuk lost the fight only with the three Nevada judges but not with the boxing world. They saw him as the winner and now wonder if Golden Boy will do the right thing by setting up a rematch.
“I don’t know what the judges saw. It really feels like GGG all over again. It doesn’t feel right. He comes in as the champion, he fights his heart out for his country and gets two knockdowns and he still loses his titles.
“Credit to His Excellency. He was impressed by both guys. He wants to continue with big fights. He’s going to put Serhii on one of his future shows. I thought he won. If there weren’t any knockdowns, it could have been 6-6. I’m not taking anything away from Vergil, but you take a look at his face,” said Loeffler.
Rematch or Title Shot?
If Bohachuk isn’t given an opportunity for a rematch with Vergil Jr, hopefully, he will get a title shot rather than have to fight one of the contenders to work his way back to a title opportunity. It would be understandable for Bohachuk to have to work his way to a title shot if his loss weren’t controversial, but the fact is, it was.
“Serhii was landing more punches, and he had Vergil’s face all busted up. They knew they were behind,” said Loeffler when told that Vergil’s corner told him he needed to win the last three rounds.”
Vergil fought well in rounds ten and eleven, but in the twelfth, he was hurt and arguably saved by the referee when he called a timeout for Ortiz to have one of his gloves repaired. It took Vergil Jr’s trainer, Robert Garcia, a long time to re-tape his glove, and Bohachuk was upset about the delay because it came when he had Ortiz in distress.
“The rounds were close, but you can’t give every close round to Vergil. You got to give some of those rounds [to Bohachuk] because he was outworking him in some of those rounds.”
Some fans would say that the judges went with the more popular guy, Vergil. He has a great future ahead of him in fights against Terence Crawford, Sebastian Fundora, Tim Tszyu, and other well-known guys.
If Vergil loses last Saturday night, his career suddenly doesn’t look as bright, and he’s brought back down to the pack. Boxing is more of an entertainment business than an actual sport, especially when you get up there with the famous fighters. So, it’s unsurprising that the judges made a controversial decision for Vergil.
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