There are a lot of unknowns about what Vergil Ortiz Jr’s last fight against WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk took out of him going into his clash on February 22nd against former WBA champ Isral Madrimov at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ortiz-Madrimov is easily the best fight on the loaded undercard. There are some excellent matchups, but this is the crème de la crème on the card.
Vergil Jr.: Shell-Shocked?
Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) was beaten at his own brawling game by the more powerful, technically skilled Bohachuk in their fight on August 10th, dropped twice, hurt multiple times, and saved by the judges from a clear defeat. Vergil Jr. lost that fight in the true sense, but the Nevada judges gave him a 12-round majority decision victory that night. The scores were 114-114, 114-112, and 114-112. I had it 9-3 for Bohachuk. It wasn’t close.
‘Little GGG’ Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) is even more technically skilled than Bohachuk and has just a good power. However, he doesn’t throw as many punches and is not as relentless. If Madrimov can adapt his style to how Bohachuk fights, Vergil Ortiz Jr. will lose on February 22nd, and the judges won’t save him this time. He’ll be knocked out. Madrimov hits too hard, and his shots will finish what Bohachuk started in his two-knockdown performance against Vergil.
“When you don’t know a fighter, you both can be very testament, very hesitant in the first round, trying to feel each other out,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr. to DAZN Boxing, talking about his fight against Israil Madrimov on February 22nd.
“We’ve had 12 to 20 rounds of sparring. I think we know each other well enough that we won’t be hesitant in the first few rounds. So, it’ll be exciting from the get-go,” Vergil Jr. continued about his fight against Madrimov.
“In sparring, Madrimov is a great fighter. It was very competitive. We could think we got the best out of him, but they can say the same thing,” said Vergi Jr’s trainer, Robert Garcia, about when Ortiz Jr. sparring with Madrimov.
Sparring Doesn’t Equal Victory
Ortiz Jr. and his trainer, Robert Garcia, shouldn’t get a false sense of security about the past sparring they had with Madrimov because that doesn’t mean anything for their fight on February 22nd. Madrimov doesn’t treat sparking sessions as a chance to go to war or prove himself against the guys that he’s training.
Only insecure fighters do stuff like that, which is self-defeating because it gets away from focusing on developing technical skills. It also wears a fighter out. You don’t want to be having wars in training camp, trying to prove how good you are before fights. If Vergil has that kind of mindset, he’s not going to last much longer in the sport as a top-level fighter. He already took terrible punishment in his last fight against former WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk.
“Everyone knows it’s going to be a hard fight. We don’t even need to sell it,” said Ortiz Jr. “It’s one of the greatest boxing cards of all time. It’s fun just to get myself against these guys. I have the WBC interim [154-lb belt]. So, we can fight [Sebastian] Fundora. I don’t know if it’s next because our schedules have to line up. Hopefully, Turki can do something about that,” said Vergil Jr.
It would help if Vergil Jr. and Madrimov put in some effort trying to sell their fight because it’s not being talked about much despite it being the second-best matchup on the card behind the main event rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Madrimov isn’t saying anything during the buildup for this fight, and Vergil Jr. is saying almost nothing as well.
Last Updated on 02/09/2025
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