Vergil Ortiz Jr. says he expects his fight against Israil Madrimov to be a “chess match” next month when they battle in a 12-round match on February 22nd in Riyadh.
Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) will be defending his WBC interim junior middleweight title that he was fortunate to get in his last fight against Serhii Bohachuk against the former WBA 154-lb champion Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs).
Madrimov’s Power vs. Ortiz Jr.’s Pace
The former amateur star Madrimov has the skills and power advantage over Ortiz Jr., but he doesn’t possess the same punch output or stamina. If Israil is unable to throw more and fight harder in the later rounds, Vergil Jr. will cruise to a victory in this matchup.
As we saw in Madrimov’s recent loss to Terence Crawford, he uses too many feints, and waits too long to throw his shots. When Madrimov does throw, it’s always just a single punch. He’s not a combination puncher. He feints for 30 seconds, then throws a single shot, and then starts over. That’s why he lost to Crawford, and why he could lose to Vergil.
“I can’t tell you how it’s going to go. I think it’s going to be a chess match, but it’s going to be fun. It’s just going to be fun,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr. to Queensberry Promotions’ YouTube channel about his title defense against Israil Madrimov on February 22nd in Riyadh.
“I think there’s a lot of bull s*** with people. ‘Oh, I see fear,’” said Vergil Jr. when asked what he saw during his face-off with Israil Madrimov. “I’m just there looking at you because I have to. Do you know what I mean? I don’t see anything. I’m just like, ‘This is part of the job or whatever,’ trying not to laugh. That’s what I’m thinking of. Trying not to laugh or anything. That’s just being honest,” said Ortiz Jr.
Recent Controversies
Both fighters were in recent matches that could have easily gone the other way with the tables turned. Madrimov out-punched Terence Crawford, but was given a questionable 12 round unanimous decision on August 3rd last year. Vergil Jr. got very lucky winning a 12-round majority decision over WBC interim 154-lb champion Bohachuk on August 10th.
Ortiz Jr. was dropped twice, and appeared to lose six of the twelve rounds. Normally, that would mean a loss, but the the judges gave it to Vergil, the A-side fighter, and now he’s the new WBC interim champion.
Obviously, it would have been better if Vergil had cleared up the controversy, but he chose not to. That doesn’t help his career becasue the fans view him as a tainted partial champion now. Turki Al-Sheikh should have insisted that Vergil Jr. give Bohachuk a rematch before he could appear on anymore of his shows.
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