WBC Interim Junior Middleweight Champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. will face a much different test in his title defense against the technically skilled Israil Madrimov on February 22 in Riyadh. The fight will take place in 58 days.
The powerful 26-year-old Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) defeated the power puncher Serhii Bohachuk by a questionable 12-round majority decision in his last fight on August 10. Bohachuk dropped Ortiz Jr. twice in the fight.
Virgil Jr. was outmatched by the more powerful Bohachuk throughout the fight, but took a controversial decision by sitting on his bike in the final four rounds to take the win.
Ortiz Jr. didn’t decide to give Bohachuk a rematch to settle the controversy, which is understandable considering how much punishment he took in that fight. Bohachuk beat Virgil at his own game, outplaying him and forcing him to move in the final quarter of the contest.
Virgil Jr. vs. Bohachuk Punch Stats
– Ortiz Jr.: 265 of 732 shots for 43%
– Bohachuk: 225 out of 817 for 36%
Ortiz Jr. wilted under the power of Bohachuk, suffered a lot of facial damage, was injured in the later rounds and was timed out to repair his gloves. He seemed to use it to recover.
It will be a different kind of fight against Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs), who is faster, more technical and just as powerful as Bohachuk with a right hand. Vergil Jr.’s best chance to win this fight is pressure because he doesn’t have the skills that Madrimov has going for him.
Former WBA junior middleweight champion Madrymov will likely be more aggressive than he was when he lost to Terence Crawford, but he won’t use the pressure that Bohachuk displayed. That’s not his style. However, Madrimov has the power and timing to hurt Ortiz Jr. if he tries to walk him out like he has with most of his opponents in his eight-year pro career.
Grudge Match
Vergil Jr. and Madrimov have different views on how their sparring has gone in the past. In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Madrimov, 29, said he wasn’t “100%” during the sparring and said Vergil Jr. was just a “normal” boxer.
Ortiz Jr. said yes Fight Hub TV about Madrimov’s comments, “He said, ‘He’s a normal boxer, and we just went to play with him.’ For me, it casts a shadow.”
Madrimov: “There’s really nothing to say.” We had a good sparring session. He’s athletic, he’s fast. At that time I was helping him prepare for the fight. We exchanged experiences. I don’t know what else to tell you
Former amateur star Madrimov lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Terence Crawford in his last fight on August 3rd in Los Angeles. The scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 115-113.
Many boxing fans felt afterward that Madrymov was close to beating Crawford and would have won had he turned up the heat in the championship rounds. He made Crawford, 37, look his age in that fight.
