Oscar De La Hoya predicts his fight, interim WBC 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 that Vergil Jr’s ring acumen will help him deal with the power of former WBA 154-lb champion Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) on their Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2.
Will Ortiz Jr. Steal The Show?
Oscar says this is a tough fight for Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) to begin his grueling fight against Serhii Bohachuk on August 10th. Vergil Jr, 26, was sentenced twice in that battle, he took many heavy shots, and was lucky to win.
The punishment that Bohachuk’s last opponent, Ishmael Davis, received last Saturday night in Riyadh paled in comparison to the one Ortiz Jr. received. which we took last August. That’s why there are question marks about whether Vergil Jr. can he withstand the power of Madrimov on February 22.
While he has time to recover from the beating he took against Bohachuk, it may not be enough for him to face a guy who hits as hard, if not harder, against ‘Little GGG.’ This is not a fight where Vergil Jr. can count on boxing Madrimov the way he did against Bohachuk in the last three rounds to pull out the victory.
‘Little GGG’: Madrimov’s power
“Stylistically, it’s a tough fight. Vergil comes out victorious [Serhii] Bohachuk,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fight Hub TV, referring to Vergil Ortiz Jr. defending his WBC interim junior middleweight title against Israel Madrimov next month on February 22 in Riyadh.
“So, the styles are almost the same. Madrimov has a better boxing IQ but hits hard like a mule [kicks]then go forward. It will be a very exciting fight. Vergil Ortiz will steal the show that night.
“Vergil Ortiz is a very smart fighter. He knows exactly what to do inside the ring. I’m sure he reads his opponents. The player there and his team study their opponents to make sure that Vergil is in the right position,” said Oscar.
Madrimov is a completely different style than Bohachuk, and he is nowhere near the same. De La Hoya made a mistake, thinking they have similar styles.
Bohachuk is a relentless, high-volume puncher who never stops throwing. In contrast, Madrimov is a slower boxer with more power. Their similarity lies in their excellent piercing power. Madrimov has better hand speed than Bohachuk, but not by much.
Madrimov lost his last fight to Terence Crawford by a 12-round unanimous decision on August 3 in Los Angeles. It was a win for Madrimov going into the final four rounds, but he allowed Crawford to win by wearing him down.
He showed a lot of respect for Crawford and didn’t attack him as relentlessly as he needed to. If you could have replanted Bohachuk’s aggressive style on Madrimov in those last four rounds, he probably would have knocked Crawford out or, at the very least, put him on the run.
Bouncing Back
Vergil Jr. he had major problems against Bohachuk, coming out of the first and eighth rounds. Ortiz Jr’s 12-round majority decision victory on August 10 was controversial and damaged his popularity. What made it worse was not giving Bohachuk a replay. That reinforced the fans’ opinion that Ortiz Jr. he knew he had lost and he didn’t want to fight Serhii again, fearing that the judges would correct him this time.
“Vergil is a very intelligent young man who knows how to take care of business. You know how to fix. I think that preparation in the first half of the fight and the first half of the fight will be very important,” said De La Hoya.
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