Oscar De La Hoya predicts his fighter, WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr, will “steal the show” on the February 22 card by defeating “Little GGG” Israil Madrimov in Riyadh.
De La Hoya feels Vergil Jr’s ring intelligence will allow him to deal with the power of former WBA 154-lb champion Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) in their fight on the card Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2.
Ortiz Jr. will he steal the show?”
Oscar says this is a tough fight for Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) to take his upset fight against Serhii Bohachuk on August 10th. Vergil Jr, 26, has been dropped twice in that fight, he took a lot of heavy shots, and was lucky to win.
The punishment that Bohachuk’s last opponent, Ishmael Davis, took against him on Saturday night in Riyadh was nothing compared to what Ortiz Jr. took. That’s why there are question marks about whether Vergil Jr. can face Madrimov’s power on February 22.
While he has had time to recover from the beating he took from Bohachuk, it might not be enough for him to deal with a guy who hits just as hard, if not harder, against “Little GGG.” This is not a fight where Vergil Jr. he can count on the win by outboxing Madrimov the way he did against Bohachuk in the last three rounds to pull off the win.
“Little GGG”: the power of Madrimov
“In style, it’s a tough fight. Vergil is coming off a tremendous win against (Serhii) Bohachuk,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fight Hub TVSpeaking of Vergil Ortiz Jr. who will defend his interim WBC junior middleweight title against Israil Madrimov next month on February 22 in Riyadh.
“So, almost similar styles in a way. Madrimov has a better boxing IQ, but he hits as hard as a mule (kick), and he gets close. It’s going to be a very fun fight. Vergil Ortiz is going to steal the show that night.
“Vergil Ortiz is a very intelligent fighter. He knows exactly what he has to do in the ring. I’m sure he studies his opponents. His cornerman and the team study his opponents to make sure that Vergil is in optimal conditions,” he said Oscar.
Madrimov is a completely different style from Bohachuk, and not even close to the same. De La Hoya was wrong, thinking they have similar styles.
Bohachuk is a relentless, high-volume puncher who never stops throwing. In contrast, Madrimov is a low production boxer with great 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 winner for Madrimov going into the final four rounds, but he allowed Crawford to take the win by outpointing him.
He showed too much respect for Crawford and didn’t attack him relentlessly like he needed to. If you could have transplanted Bohachuk’s aggressive style into Madrimov in the last four rounds, he probably would have knocked Crawford out or at least put him on the run.
Vergil Jr. he had massive problems against Bohachuk, falling in rounds one and eight. Ortiz Jr’s 12-round majority decision win on August 10 was controversial and hurt his popularity. What made it worse was not giving Bohachuk a rematch. This cemented the opinion of the fans that Ortiz Jr. he knew he lost and didn’t want to fight Serhii again, fearing 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 these adjustments in the first quarter of the fight and the first half of the fight will be very important,” said De La Hoya.
