Vergil Ortiz Jr. says he expects his fight against Israil Madrimov to be “a chess match” next month when they fight in a 12-round bout on February 22 in Riyadh.
Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) will defend his interim WBC middleweight title that he was fortunate to win in his last fight against Serhiy Bohachuk against former WBA 154 lb champion Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 ). KOs).
Madrimov’s Power vs. Ortiz Jr.’s Pace
Former amateur star Madrimov has the skill and power advantage over Ortiz Jr., but doesn’t possess the same performance or stamina. If Israel is unable to score more and fight better in the later rounds, Vergil Jr. will cruise to victory in this match.
As we saw in Madrymov’s recent loss to Terence Crawford, he uses too many feints and waits too long to land his shots. When Madrimov throws, it’s always just one punch. He is not a combo batsman. He feints for 30 seconds, then throws one shot, then starts over. That’s why he lost to Crawford, and why he might lose to Virgil.
“I can’t tell you how it’s going to go.” I think it will be a chess match, but it will be fun. It’s just going to be fun,” Vergil Ortiz Jr. told Queensberry Promotions’ YouTube channel about his title defense against Israil Madrimov on February 22 in Riyadh.
“I think there’s a lot of crap with people.” “Oh, I see fear,” Virgil Jr. said when asked what he saw during his confrontation with Israel Madrimov. “I’m just there looking at you because I have to. Do you know what I mean? I don’t see anything. I just say, ‘It’s part of the job or whatever,’ trying not to laugh. That’s what I’m thinking about. I’m trying not to laugh or something. It’s just to be honest,” Ortiz Jr. said.
Recent controversies
Both fighters have been in recent matches that could have easily gone the other way with the tables turned. Madrimov outworked Terence Crawford, but was handed a dubious 12-round unanimous decision on August 3 last year. Virgil Jr. was very fortunate to win a 12-round majority decision over interim WBC 154 lb champion Bohachuk on August 10th.
Ortiz Jr. was dropped twice and appeared to lose six of twelve rounds. Normally, that would mean a loss, but the judges gave it to Vergil, the A 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. It doesn’t help his career as fans now see him as a tainted partial champion. Turki Al-Sheikh should have insisted that Virgil Jr. give Bohachuk a rematch before he could appear on any of his shows.
