Vergil Ortiz: Happy, healthy, active heading into Bohachuk clash
Proclaims 'it’s going to be a brutal fight. It’s gonna be a classic.'
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Oh, how things have changed, and for the better, for Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Whereas he slogged through unproductive years in 2022, when he fought just once, and 2023, when he didn’t fight — all because of health and weight issues and fight postponements and cancellations — Ortiz is now on a roll.
One fight, for what would have been Ortiz’s first seven-figure payday against WBA “regular” welterweight titlist Eimantas Stanionis, was scheduled three times before it was canceled, once due to a Stanionis emergency appendectomy and twice because of Ortiz’s medical issues.
Ortiz has since moved up to junior middleweight, where he is much more comfortable making weight, and rates as a busy fighter by today’s standards.
He has already fought twice this year, winning both by first-round knockout; has signed a lucrative contract extension with Golden Boy Promotions; and is about to have by far the most significant fight of his career.
He will challenge Serheii Bohachuk, with whom he has sparred numerous rounds and knows well, for his WBC interim junior middleweight title in the main event of a Golden Boy Promotions card on Saturday (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET) at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Ortiz is a great place compared to the moments of despair when he was dealing with a blood disorder and all the issues of the past couple of years, when there were times he was uncertain where his career was going. That is clearly not the case anymore.
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