WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk and Vergil Ortiz are finalizing a fight for August 10th in Las Vegas.
This isn’t Vergil’s usual type of opponent, and there’s a good chance he will lose this fight against Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs). Even if Ortiz does lose, he’ll get some valuable experience that will help him moving forward, as long as his promoters at Golden Boy continue to match him tough after this.
If Vergil is a hype job, as some fans think, Bohachuk is the antidote to prove that. Ultimately, that would be good because Vergil could start over from the ruin and rebuild the right way against quality opposition. That’s what he’s been missing during his career.
Ortiz’s Perfect Record: A Mirage?
Some would argue that Vergil Ortiz has been coddled by his promoters his entire career, protected, but that ends on August 10th when he faces Bohachuk.
The winner of this fight will be able to challenge for the WBC title against Sebastian Fundora vs. Errol Spence winner.
Serhii Bohachuk, 29, defeated Brian Mendoza by a twelve-round unanimous decision on March 30th to capture the WBC interim junior middleweight title.
The Ukrainian Bohachuk dominated Mendoza with his high-volume punching and looked impressive throughout the fight, dominating a guy that Tim Tszyu had problems beating and who had knocked out Sebastian Fundora.
It’s a risky fight for Ortiz, who has fought largely middle-of-the-road opposition his entire eight-year professional career, making it difficult to know how good he truly is.
The 26-year-old Ortiz (21-0, 21 KOs) will be fighting his first truly talented 154-pounder since moving to the weight class in January.
Ortiz has fought twice at 154, beating Thomas Dulorme and Fredrick Lawson. Neither of those fighters is anywhere near Bohachuk’s talent level (24-1, 23 KOs).
Fans Are Not Amused
Fans on social media aren’t pleased that Ortiz won’t fight on the August 3rd card, which is headlined by Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Initially, Vergil Ortiz was supposed to fight former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu on that card, but Tim had to pull out due to a cut still unhealed from his March 30th fight.
Although Vergil has looked great, beating fighters Michael McKinson, Brad Solomon, and Egidijus Kavaliauskas, he’s not fought any A-level guys. That’s the negative about being protected by a promoter.
Is Ortiz Even Real?
They build a fighter with a 21-0 record, but you don’t know what you’ll get when they stop protecting him with the wolves for the first time. Hopefully, Ortiz Jr. suffer another injury or illness during training camp that prevents him from taking this tough first test against Bohachuk.
It wouldn’t be a shock if Bohachuk exposed Vergil Ortiz, showing that he’s not as good as boxing fans had thought. This is a big step up in class for the 26-year-old Vergil, as he’s still very young and inexperienced, thanks to his promoters matching him so carefully.
