Oscar De La Hoya predicts his fighter, WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr, will “steal the show” on the February 22nd card by defeating ‘Little GGG’ Israil Madrimov in Riyadh.
De La Hoya feels that Vergil Jr’s ring smarts will enable him to deal with the power of former WBA 154-lb champion Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) in their fight on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 card.
Will Ortiz Jr. Steal The Show?
Oscar says this is a tough fight for Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) to take coming off his grueling battle against Serhii Bohachuk on August 10th. Vergil Jr, 26, was dropped twice in that fight, took many heavy shots, and was lucky to win.
The punishment that Bohachuk’s last opponent, Ishmael Davis, took against him last Saturday night in Riyadh was nothing compared to what Ortiz Jr. absorbed last August. That’s why there are question marks about whether Vergil Jr. can stand up to the power of Madrimov on February 22nd.
While he’s had time to recover from the beating he took from Bohachuk, it might not be enough for him to deal with a guy that hits just as hard, if not harder, against ‘Little GGG.’ This isn’t a fight where Vergil Jr. can count on winning by outboxing Madrimov the way he did against Bohachuk in the last three rounds to pull out the victory.
‘Little GGG’: Madrimov’s Power
“Style-wise, it’s a tough fight. Vergil is coming off a tremendous win against [Serhii] Bohachuk,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fight Hub TV, talking about Vergil Ortiz Jr. defending his WBC interim junior middleweight title against Israil Madrimov next month on February 22nd in Riyadh.
“So, almost similar styles in a way. Madrimov has a better boxing IQ but hits hard like a mule [kicks], and he comes forward. It’s going to be a very entertaining fight. Vergil Ortiz will steal the show that night.
“Vergil Ortiz is a very smart fighter. He knows exactly what he has to do inside the ring. I’m sure he studies his opponents. His cornerman and team study their opponents to make sure Vergil is in the optimal conditions,” said Oscar.
Madrimov is a completely different style than Bohachuk, and he’s nowhere near the same. De La Hoya has got it wrong, thinking they have similar styles.
Bohachuk is a relentless, high-volume puncher who never stops throwing. In contrast, Madrimov is a low-output boxer with big power. Their similarities lie in their excellent punching power. Madrimov has better hand speed than Bohachuk, but not by much.
Madrimov lost his last fight to Terence Crawford by a close 12 round-unanimous decision on August 3rd in Los Angeles. It was a winnable one for Madrimov going into the last four rounds, but he let Crawford take the victory by outworking him.
He showed too much respect for Crawford and didn’t attack him relentlessly as he needed to. If you could have transplanted Bohachuk’s aggressive style in Madrimov in those last four rounds, he would have likely knocked out Crawford or, at the very least, put him on the run.
Bouncing Back
Vergil Jr. had massive problems against Bohachuk, getting dropped in rounds one and eight. Ortiz Jr’s 12-round majority decision win on August 10th was controversial and hurt his popularity. What made it worse was not giving Bohachuk a rematch. That cemented fans’ view that Ortiz Jr. knew he lost and didn’t want to fight Serhii again, fearing that the judges would get it right this time.
“Vergil is a very intelligent young man who knows how to take care of business. He knows how to adjust. I think those adjustments in the first quarter of the fight and first half of the fight are going to be very important,” said De La Hoya.
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