Any so-called expert can say anything they want about Saturday’s gripping junior-middleweight matchup between WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz Jnr and former WBA champion Israil Madrimov.
No opinion carries the weight of the man who just fought – and twice knocked down Ortiz – and was due to fight Madrimov before the Ortiz bout came along.
Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk, 25-2 (24 KOs), broke down the fight with BoxingScene, and said he expects the outcome to be unprecedented.
“I think Madrimov wins. He’s a better boxer, has had a good amateur career and has done well in his professional fights, showing such important components. He’s stronger. He’s smarter,” Bohachuk said of Uzbekistan’s Madrimov, 10-1-1 (7 KOs).
Madrimov, 30, is coming off an August 3 loss by a narrow unanimous decision to four-division champion Terence Crawford in Los Angeles.
In that bout, Madrimov shifted styles and produced a crafty, bouncy performance that confounded Crawford at points.
Against Texas’ Ortiz, 22-0 (21 KOs), whom Bohachuk knocked down in the first and eighth rounds before suffering a majority decision loss by scores of 113-113 and 114-112 twice, Bohachuk expects Madrimov to set his feet more and sit down on his power punches.
“I was talking with Madrimov after my fight and he said, ‘You won that fight, you were better,’” Bohachuk said. “I think there were many things he learned from my fight. He will punch [forcefully] like I punched.
“And what I came to understand in my fight with Ortiz is that he doesn’t have a chin. He’s not a boxer like we are, and his chin is not as strong. I landed good punches on him and he went down. Madrimov knows this. Madrimov saw this. I think he sees how well the hook did and the [power] right hand, and I think he’ll use these punches in the fight.”
Bohachuk used a power right to score his first knockdown of Ortiz – which was recorded following a video replay – and it was a left hook to the head that dropped Ortiz for a flash knockdown in the eighth.
That night marked the first time Ortiz was ever taken the distance. Saturday, Bohachuk forecasts his recent foe’s first defeat.
“I think Madrimov will beat Ortiz by decision, maybe with a couple knockdowns. A knockout is possible,” Bohachuk said. “Maybe I’m saying this because I’m a harder puncher and I knocked him down. And I know this is coming from me, but I didn’t feel hard punches from Vergil.
“When I was hit in the gut or head, I didn’t feel it was a hard punch. Madrimov has a hard punch. He showed this [with a fifth-round TKO of] Magomed Kurbanov [in March 2024] and he showed this against Crawford. If he’s in position, he can land hard punches and get a couple knockdowns.”
Bohachuk spent nearly two months preparing for a Dec. 21 bout against Madrimov, but then Saudi Arabia’s boxing financier Turki Alalshikh announced Madrimov would also be fighting Ortiz on Saturday, and on Dec. 7, Madrimov abruptly withdrew from fighting Bohachuk citing acute bronchitis.
That left Bohachuk to take on replacement foe Ishmael Davis, whom he knocked down in the second round and finished by sixth-round stoppage.
That knowledge of scouting Madrimov and watching him previously leaves Bohachuk to assess, “I think it’ll be a decision [victory] for Madrimov.
“Ortiz is a good boxer and he showed with me that he can go down and get right back up, to show, ‘Whatever happened, I’m OK, I’m ready.’ He has balls. I’ll say it again: He has balls. He’s a good boxer, he’s scary. But I just think Madrimov is better and he’ll win this time because of his experience. He’s just so smart.”
Bohachuk said Ortiz’s best chance to win is by reverting to his penchant for knockout after winning his first 21 bouts by knockout or stoppage.
“Knockout, that’s it,” Bohachuk said. ‘Because Madrimov is special, so smart, he has good technique, he has motivation [to avoid a second straight loss], he’s well conditioned … I don’t think Vergil can do enough to overcome that. His best strategy would be to focus on hard body shots.”
With their countries positioned south of Russia, separated by the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, Bohachuk said he and Madrimov are only casual acquaintances and have not talked strategy about the Ortiz bout.
Asked if he’d want Ortiz to win just because it might reflect better on his own showing against the 26-year-old Texan, Bohachuk said, “It doesn’t matter who wins this fight, other than whoever wins, I’m interested in fighting them. I can beat either. I just want to fight the best.”
Bohachuk promoter Tom Loeffler told BoxingScene earlier this week he will decide after Ortiz-Madrimov how Bohachuk will proceed.
His options are to call out the winner, wait longer for the winner of the March 22 WBC/WBO title defense by unified champion Sebastian Fundora versus Chordale Booker, or take an alternate stay-busy fight in the spring.
The other champions, Crawford and Bakhram Murtazaliev, are awaiting other bouts – Crawford holding for Canelo Alvarez in September, Murtazaliev awaiting the Erickson Lubin-Ardreal Holmes May 10 winner.
“My division is the best division. There are a lot of strong boxers. To me, the best is Fundora,” Bohachuk said. “He is a very good boxer. I’ve had a lot of experience sparring with him at Abel Sanchez’s gym. He is very strong. I’ve felt his punches in the gym. He’s very special. He’s skinny, but he has great punching power and he’s in great condition.”
Bohachuk was set to fight Fundora in March 2024, but then-WBO title challenger Keith Thurman was injured ahead of his scheduled bout with Tim Tszyu and Fundora replaced Thurman, defeating former champion Tszyu in a bloody split-decision triumph.
Although the Ortiz-Madrimov winner would possess the inside track to fight Fundora next, Bohachuk argues his position as WBC No. 1 contender also makes him a next option for Fundora should he defeat underdog Booker.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman told BoxingScene Friday, “We will wait for the results of both fights [Ortiz-Madrimov, Fundora-Booker] and will work with all promoters involved to determine the best course of action.”
Said Bohachuk: “I’m ready. I will push Fundora to say give me a fight. He hasn’t fought in a year, and is holding on to two belts. Let’s go, give me a belt.
“Or I would take a fight with Madrimov, then Fundora. Or I could go six rounds with Madrimov and six rounds with Fundora in one night.”
The latter suggestion was a joke, but given Bohachuk’s quality and self-confidence, he was likely serious in believing himself capable of such a feat.
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