Tonight, at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, we may witness what may potentially be the fight of the year when Serhii Bohachuk defends his interim WBC super welterweight championship against knockout artist Vergil Ortiz Jr. Both are offensive power punchers who love a good war.
The fight will be explosive, with plenty of firepower coming from both directions. Ortiz has a 100 percent knockout ratio, while Bohachuk has scored 23 knockouts in 24 victories. Stylistically, this has the makings of an all-out war.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. faces his toughest opponent to date. In that, he faces a strong pressure fighter who will take the fight to him. Neither fighter is known for their defense, as both are purely offensive machines. Who can defend the best will gain a tactical advantage when countering.
Bohachuk showed vulnerability in his loss against Brandon Adams back in 2021, when he was caught with a left hook while going to the inside. Ortiz has a great left hook, and he could seek to replicate that moment by setting a trap and baiting Bohachuk in. In this match a mistake for either fighter could prove to be costly as both have the ability to finish.
Serhii Bohachuk has a strong amateur pedigree, and it won’t be easy to outflank him. Ortiz must make calculated moves. Bohachuk throws about 20 more punches per round than Ortiz and knows how to utilize the jab effectively (Compubox).
He’ll seek to throw Ortiz out of position by using different angles and movement. Bohachuk is more methodical in his approach and that he likes to break his opponents down. Ortiz seeks and destroys and appears to be the stronger and quicker of the two, having scored more explosive knockouts.
At the face off during this week’s final press conference, Ortiz refused to shake Bohachuk hands due to what he feels was disrespectful behavior from the Bohachuk camp. They’ve made comments calling Ortiz unprofessional and at yesterday’s weigh-in Ortiz’s dad got into it with a member of the Bohachuk team.
This added fuel could give Ortiz added motivation to what is already the biggest fight of his career. A determined and motivated Ortiz could raise his game and give a career defining performance. On the line is the road to superstardom as potential bigger matchups loom on the horizon. A potential super fight against Terence Crawford could be in the near future.
World-renowned trainer Robert Garcia has had great success as of late, with his stable capturing multiple titles against high-level competition. Jesse Rodriguez and Jose Valenzuela
had career-defining championship matches, recently defeating Juan Francisco Estrada and Isaac Cruz, respectively.
A great trainer gives a fighter great strategical advantage, this match should be no different. Robert Garcia would have devised a strategy that would highlight his fighters’ strengths and minimize that of Bohachuk, now it’s just a matter of execution. Up to now Ortiz has been able to successfully execute them, can Bohachuk disrupt the gameplan?
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