Notebook: Vergil Ortiz aims to put health issues, frustration in past
Katie Taylor vacates two belts; purse bid set for Breidis-Zurdo for IBF cruiserweight title; Miller out on bail; Quick hits; Show and tell
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The sound of frustration — maybe it was exasperation — was palpable in Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s voice.
He was trying to convey his feelings about how a promising career that saw him earn honors as the 2019 prospect of the year and then kick into overdrive as a welterweight contender seemingly destined for a title ended up with questions about whether he would ever fight again.
Ortiz has not boxed since August 2022, when he knocked out then-undefeated Michael McKinson in a fight that had been delayed for five months because of Ortiz was diagnosed with the blood disorder rhabdomyolysis.
Because of that health ailment, now under control, according to Ortiz, as well as what he termed “overtraining” and dramatic issues making the welterweight limit of 147 pounds, he has not boxed in 17 months.
During that span, Ortiz had a mandatory shot at WBA “regular” welterweight titlist Eimantas Stanionis scrubbed three times and ultimately canceled. The first time was due to a Stanionis emergency appendectomy and then twice because Ortiz was dealing with a recurrence of the blood disorder and, finally, this past July. That was when Ortiz fainted during a workout three days before the fight and wound up in the hospital due to dehydration.
“Weight cut was going good until I just couldn’t,” Ortiz told Fight Freaks Unite about what happened during that day in the gym. “My body just started saying no. I don’t want to say exactly what happened. If it was anyone else it would have been traumatizing, and I’m not a dramatic guy. It was scary; I’ll just put it that way.”
Ortiz saw his title shot, secondary or not, go by the wayside. And, keep in mind, through all the inactivity, Ortiz did not make any money.
“It was extremely disappointing. Disappointing isn’t even the word,” Ortiz said of the Stanionis situation. “I was beyond frustrated, especially happening for the third time. Definitely not something I want to happen again.”
Ortiz now appears to be in a much better place than he was last summer. He has moved up in weight — he had no choice — and comfortably made the contract weight of 156 pounds on Friday for a 12-rounder against Fredrick Lawson, who he will fight in the main event of a Golden Boy card on Saturday (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET) at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
“This (way I feel now) reminds me of when I was at my best,” Ortiz said. “I haven’t felt like this in a long time.
“I feel like a lot of the health issues came from overtraining but not in the sense of high intensity. It was more of too long, as in fights weren’t happening when they were supposed to.”
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With fights taking months to finalize and then having bouts be postponed, Ortiz said he remained in the gym. In retrospect, maybe it was a mistake to not have more time off. Ortiz’s voice trailed off when speaking on the subject.
“I fought four times back to back to back (in 2019). I was on a roll. I had momentum,” Ortiz said. “I was training, fighting, resting; training, fighting, resting.”
Then the pandemic slowed things down as did the other issues, leaving him with one fight in 2020, two in 2021 and the delayed McKinson bout in 2022.
“I backed off training a little bit but I’m still in the gym, still training, not as hard necessarily, but I’m still training,” Ortiz said. “Fight gets postponed and then I’m still training. I’m just training. I’m just training all the time, non-stop. It gets to my body. No one can do that.”
He said he didn’t back off for fear that some other fight would come his way and he wouldn’t be prepared.
“What if something else came up? You stay ready so you don’t have to get ready,” Ortiz said. “I was just doing my job.”
Ultimately it cost him and led to enormous criticism from many fans and some media, which he took to heart.
Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs), 25, of the Grand Prairie, Texas, in the Dallas area, said that typically walks around at about 170 pounds and that it was much easier to get down to 156 than 147. He could fight at junior middleweight (154) and Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya has said he may fight at middleweight (160). A lot will depend on how things go against Lawson (30-3, 22 KOs), 34, a Ghana native fighting out of Chicago, who also is moving up in weight and aiming for what would be a major upset.
“We've seen a few scripts going around saying how this fight should go,” Lawson said. “We have a plan that will surprise everyone.”
Ortiz goes into the fight having reunited with renowned trainer Robert Garcia, who he left in late 2021 with the intention of joining Eddy Reynoso’s camp. That never happened and then Ortiz withdrew from a March 2022 planned bout with McKinson. When Ortiz finally faced McKinson in August 2022, he had brought on trainer Manny Robles to work with his father, Vergil Ortiz Sr.
But now he is back with Garcia, who was in his corner during his rise from top prospect to contender.
“It literally felt like we picked up right where we left off,” Ortiz said. “No vibes changed, no nothing changed. It was the same (as before). It was really cool how that worked out. I was like that is where I was at my best. (I thought) we just need to go back. That’s all it was. He was very happy to have me back and I was happy to be back and to be in that environment.”
With his training situation settled and Ortiz claiming his health issues are behind him, he starts anew against Lawson, hoping the fight is the start of a big year that will make the recent hard times a distant memory.
“At least three, hopefully four,” Ortiz said of how many times he wants to fight in 2024. “And I want to fight for a world title this year for sure. I’m done waiting. I ain’t gonna wait for nobody. If they’re trying to marinate some shit, I don’t give a fuck about that. I just want to fight.”
In the co-feature Ohara Davies (25-2, 18 KOs), 31, of England, in his first fight since signing with Golden Boy, will face Ismael Barroso (24-4-2, 22 KOs), 40, a southpaw from Venezuela, for the vacant interim WBA junior welterweight title.
The WBA agreed to sanction mandatory challenger Davies against former title challenger Barroso for the interim belt because titlist Rolando Romero, who controversially stopped Barroso in the ninth round of a fight Barroso winning in May to claim the vacant title, is sidelined for several months due to a back injury. The WBA said it would order Romero face the Davies-Barroso winner upon his return.
Make sure to check out 2023 award winner stories
Katie Taylor staying at 140
Faced with a decision on which division to retain her belts in, Katie Taylor has picked junior welterweight.
The longtime undisputed women’s lightweight champion has vacated the IBF and WBO titles, both organizations told Fight Freaks Unite on Friday, confirming a BoxingScene report.
It is just a matter of time until she formally resigns the WBC and WBA belts, although she is keeping them for now as she does not face immediate obligations in those organizations. However, she plans to stay at junior welterweight. That is what an IBF spokesperson said the organization was told when she vacated.
Taylor won an action-packed majority decision over Chantelle Cameron in their immediate rematch on Nov. 25 at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, to win the undisputed junior welterweight title in the 2023 Fight Freaks Unite women’s fight of the year.
Taylor (23-1, 6 KOs), 37, initially moved up to challenge Cameron (18-1, 8 KOs), 32, of England, for the belts in May and lost a majority decision in another all-action fight in Taylor’s long-awaited first pro fight in Ireland, where she is a national hero.
Taylor, who had previously won the WBO junior welterweight title in 2019 but immediately vacated to return to lightweight to continue defending, invoked her right to an immediate rematch and there is a chance she will next face Cameron in a trilogy fight. Both women, and Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, say they are interested in it.
Taylor and Hearn hope to stage Taylor’s next fight, whoever it is against, at Croke Park, the famed outdoor soccer stadium in Dublin.
Taylor was a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and also went to the 2016 Olympics before turning pro. She won the vacant WBA lightweight title in her seventh fight in 2017 and eventually became undisputed in 2019. Overall, Taylor made 14 lightweight title defenses, including seven of the undisputed crown.
Briedis-Zurdo for vacant title?
The IBF on Wednesday scheduled purse bid for a fight between cruiserweight mandatory challenger Mairis Briedis, a former champion, and former super middleweight titlist Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez for the title that Jai Opetaia was essentially forced to vacate last month.
The IBF ordered Briedis-Ramirez on Dec. 20 (the day after Opetaia vacated) and on Jan. 2 Briedis requested an immediate purse bid rather than negotiate, so it has been scheduled for Jan. 16 at 12 p.m. ET at the IBF offices in Springfield, New Jersey, and via video conference. They could make deal up to 15 minutes before the bids are unsealed. To participate in the bidding, promoters must pay a $5,000 nonrefundable participation fee.
Briedis (28-2, 20 KOs), of Latvia, who turns 39 next week, has not fought since losing a unanimous decision and the lineal/IBF title to Opetaia in a brutal fight in July 2022. He is currently sidelined with an injury but supposed to be able to fight in the coming months.
Ramirez (45-1, 30 KOs), 32, a southpaw from Mexico, lost a blowout decision to Dmitry Bivol challenging for the WBA light heavyweight title in a mandatory bout in November 2022 and moved up to cruiserweight, where he outpointed former light heavyweight titlist Joe Smith Jr. in October.
Golden Boy, which promotes Ramirez, said it is not certain that Ramirez will go the IBF rout. He will consider his options, one of which very well could be a fight with WBA titlist Arsen Goulamirian (27-0, 18 KOs), 36, of France.
Jarrell Miller out on bail
Heavyweight Jarrell Miller was freed on $30,000 bail from the Broward County jail in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday after being arrested on Tuesday and charged with two felonies, carjacking without a firearm or weapon and burglary with assault or battery.
He is accused of taking a vehicle that was repossessed from him by a South Florida car dealership. Miller allegedly overpowered a dealership employee, put the employee in a chokehold, threw him to the ground, took the keys to the Dodge Ram pickup truck, and drove away.
Miller did not know that the dealer had a GPS tracking device in the vehicle and police quickly located him and arrested him.
Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs), 35, of Brooklyn, New York, who is best known for his multitude of drug test failures for a variety of performance-enhancing drugs and subsequent suspensions, was fresh off his fist loss when Daniel Dubois dominated and stopped him in the 10th round on the undercard of the “Day of Reckoning” mega event on Dec. 23 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Boxing News appearance
I joined my friends at Boxing News to discuss a slew of boxing topics, including Vergil Ortiz Jr.-Fredrick Lawson; Artur Beterbiev-Callum Smith; Teofimo Lopez-Jamaine Ortiz and Jose Ramirez turning down the opportunity to challenge Lopez; a possible Devin Haney-Ryan Garcia fight; what might next for Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder; Jaime Munguia-John Ryder; and Natasha Jonas-Mikaela Mayer. Check out the video here:
Mannix podcast appearance
I joined my pal Chris Mannix on his boxing podcast this week to discuss various topics, including Vergil Ortiz’s return; the status of the Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney talks; what to expect when PBC kicks off its Amazon Prime Video deal in March; what might be next for Gervonta Davis; Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr. rematch stuff; will we see Canelo Alvarez-David Benavidez; and more. Give it a listen here:
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed the two main fights on the Golden Boy card on Saturday night on DAZN: Vergil Ortiz Jr.-Fredrick Lawson and the vacant WBA interim junior welterweight title bout between Ohara Davies and Ismael Barroso. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Weights from Las Vegas for Golden Boy’s card Saturday on DAZN (8 p.m. ET): Vergil Ortiz Jr. 156, Fredrick Lawson 152.4 (contract max is 156); Ohara Davies 140, Ismael Barroso 139.6 (for vacant WBA interim junior welterweight title); Arnold Barboza Jr. 139.4, Xolisani Ndongeni 139.2; Raul Curiel 146.8, Elias Diaz 146.2; Emiliano Gandara 161.6, Isaac Matamoros 164.
Calvin Ford, the well-known trainer of WBA lightweight titlist Gervonta Davis, was arrested by Baltimore police Dec. 29 as he was leaving his gym in the Baltimore neighborhood of Upton and was awaiting transfer to Las Vegas, according to the Baltimore Banner. Ford, 58, is wanted there on two charges of assault with a deadly weapon following an incident in Las Vegas, where authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on Oct. 16, the newspaper reported. Details of the incident have not been disclosed. According to the paper, Ford was being held in Baltimore without bail. Davis, his star pupil, has had his own various legal issues, including spending 44 days in the Baltimore County Jail this past summer in connection to a guilty plea in a 2020 hit-and-run incident.
Matchroom Boxing announced the remaining undercard fights for when super middleweights Edgar Berlanga and Padraig McCrory square off in the main event on Feb. 24 (DAZN) at the Caribe Royale resort in Orlando, Florida. Shakhram Giyasov (14-0, 9 KOs), 30, of Uzbekistan, will face Pablo Cesar Cano (35-8-1, 25 KOs), 34, of Mexico, in a WBA welterweight eliminator and 2016 U.S. Olympian Antonio Vargas (17-1, 9 KOs), 27, of nearby Kissimmee, Florida, will fight Puerto Rican Jonathan Rodriguez (17-1-1, 7 KOs), 24, who retired former world titlist Kal Yafai with a first-round knockout in November, in a WBA bantamweight eliminator. Among the other bouts, flyweight Yankiel Rivera (4-0, 2 KOs), 26, a 2020 Olympian from Puerto Rico, meets Andy Dominguez (10-0, 6 KOs), 25, of Mexico, in a 10-rounder.
Matchroom Boxing also announced three additional undercard bouts on the show topped by Conor Benn against Peter Dobson in a junior middleweight fight Feb. 3 (DAZN) at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Light heavyweight Khalil Coe (7-0-1, 5 KOs), 27, of Jersey City, New Jersey, will face Gerardo Osuna (20-0, 18 KOs), 23, of Mexico, in an eight-rounder. Also, two British middleweights will appear: George Liddard (9-1, 1 KOs), 21, in a six-rounder and Jimmy Sains (2-0, 2 KOs), 23, in a four-rounder. They will both make their American debuts against opponents to be announced.
Ivana Habazin announced on social media that she will challenge WBC/WBA women’s welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill on April 20 at KC Drazen Petrovic, an arena named for the late Croatian NBA star, in Zagreb, Croatia, Habazin’s home country. “It's official,” Habazin, the WBC mandatory challenger, wrote, adding, “I am honored to be the first professional boxer male/female in history of Croatia to bring home this historical event.” Piranha Promotions, which represents Habazin, offered $82,500 as the only bidder at a purse bid. Under WBC rules, 10 percent ($8,250) will be held by the WBC and go to the winner as a bonus. Of the balance, McCaskill (12-3-1, 5 KOs), 39, of Chicago, gets 70 percent ($51,975) and Habazin (22-5, 7 KOs), 34, a former IBF titlist, gets 30 percent ($22,275).
Show and tell
In a day and age when physical collectibles — tickets, posters and programs — are becoming less and less usual for fights (and many events beyond boxing), it’s awesome to see that the Riyadh Season organizers in Saudi Arabia spare no expense when it comes to not only putting on boxing events but also for the physical tickets to the events. I was really happy to add to my collection a gorgeous ticket from the Oct. 28 “Battle of the Baddest” event headlined by lineal/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury against MMA star Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia.
Now, I have also been able to do the same for the Dec. 23 “Day of Reckoning” mega card that featured Anthony Joshua stopping Otto Wallin in the main event and Joseph Parker outpointing Deontay Wilder in an upset in the co-feature to derail a long-awaited Joshua-Wilder showdown. Like for Oct. 28, the Dec. 23 ticket is one of the fanciest I’ve seen in decades of collecting. The ticket is hard plastic and comes with a fight-branded lanyard, both of which were inside a recessed cardboard box with a magnetic fold-out side to open it. To go along with the ticket and box I have also added an all-access credential for the event to my collection.
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Photos: Ortiz-Lawson and Davies-Barroso: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy Promotions
Taylor and Miller: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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