Vergil Ortiz Jr. takes a big step up in class against WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk on Saturday, August 10, at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The event will be shown live on DAZN at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.
The Bohachuk Test: Sink or Swim
Fans will get a chance to see if the Golden Boy-promoted Ortiz Jr. (21-0, 21 KOs) has the goods to be one of the top guys at 154 after spending most of his eight-year pro career at 147.
Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs) has the kind of power that could bring the 26-year-old Ortiz Jr back down to earth and finish the job that Egidijus Kavaliauskas started when he had him out on his feet, close to being knocked out in their clash in August 2021.
Ortiz Jr. made it through that fight only because Kavaliauskas gassed out after hurting him. That’s a fight that Ortiz Jr. would have lost if his opponent hadn’t immediately faded like a battery. That was the strangest fight.
Bohachuk has the experience advantage over Vergil Jr and is coming off a big win over WBC interim junior middleweight champion Brian Mendoza on March 30th. None of Ortiz Jr’s victories during his eight-year pro career compare to that. It’s not even close.
Golden Boy has groomed and protected Vergil just like they did with Jaime Munguia for the ten years he was with them. There’s no difference between how Golden Boy has matched Vergil Jr. and how they did with Munguia.
Vergil’s last six opponents:
– Thomas Dulorme
– Fredrick Lawson
– Michael McKinson
– Egidijus Kavaliauskas
– Maurice Hooker
– Samuel Vargas
He’s been kept away from the sharks until now, and you don’t know how he will react to being thrown in with a talented fighter like Bohachuk.
A History of Health Concerns
Ideally, Vergil should have been given a step-up fight to prepare him for a fighter like Bohachuk, but given constant health problems, Golden Boy likely didn’t feel confident that he could stay healthy long enough to be given more seasoning. Vergil Jr is a walking health nightmare. If he were in the military, he would be labeled a ‘sickbay commando’ and treated like he wasn’t fit for battle.
“45 wins between these two guys, and 44 of them have come by knockout,” said commentator Chris Mannix to DAZN Boxing about the combined records of WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk and Vergil Ortiz Jr.
“This is going to be an explosive fight between two punchers that have each other’s numbers because Vergil Ortiz isn’t the best defensive fighter,” said commentator Sergio Mora. “He’s been hit before with right hands by [Egidijus] Kavaliauskas. That’s the punch that Bohachuk has, a big right hand.”
This fight will be a pure war on Saturday night because both guys only know how to fight with one style. Vergil Jr. is a straight-ahead slugger, and he’s been spoiled by Golden Boy with them matching him against cannon fodder for the most part.
Due to Vergil’s weak opposition, he has not had to adapt his game or add a boxing element to it. Lambs have been thrown into the ring for Ortiz Jr. to slaughter, and he’s torn them apart without having to develop finesse.
If Bohachuk can get through the first six rounds of the fight on Saturday, there’s a good chance he will knock out Ortiz Jr. and expose him as a hype job, which some fans already think he is.
“He’s very patient. He’s a scary fighter because everything is at one speed. He doesn’t get carried away; he doesn’t over-punch. He doesn’t load up with speed or nothing. It’s just timing, and he has that natural heavy-handed power.
“This is going to be a fight where I can see both of them getting hurt and maybe both of them getting dropped. It’s the type of fight where the fans are going to win. I’m going to lean towards Ortiz, but wow. Why not put this fight for a world title? That’s what I would say,” said Mora.
“Every part of me wants to say that Vergil Ortiz finds a way to get the job done,” said Mannix. “We’ve seen him do it time after time, even when the competition at welterweight was picking up.”
Vergil With A lot To prove
We’ve seen Vergil beat soft opposition time after time, but Golden Boy hasn’t tried to step him up. Indeed, he’s matched just like Edgar Berlanga, who fans see as a pure manufactured fighter designed for hustle purposes to get cash out and then be discarded.
Vergil Jr. has been matched just like him, but he still hasn’t gotten a big money fight given to him. That’s understandable because he keeps getting sick with one problem after another.
“I look at Bohachuk and see a guy who, for the last year years, has been 154 lbs. This is his weight class. If not for that one loss to Brandon Adams, he might be the same guy as Vergil Ortiz,” said Mannix.
The problem is that the opposition that Vergil Jr. faced at 147 never picked up and was always terrible. I don’t consider the light-hitting McKinson or the journeyman Kavaliauskas elevated.
At 154, Vergil Jr. has continued to be matched against weak opposition, facing 34-year-old Thomas Dulorme and Fredrick Lawson. If Vergil had beaten a live body like Erickson Lubin or Xander Zayas, I would predict a victory for him against Bohachuk.
