Oscar De La Hoya predicts his fighter, interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr, will “steal the show” on the February 22 card by beating “Little GGG” Israil Madrimov in Riyadh.
De La Hoya believes Vergil Jr’s ring smarts will allow him to deal with the power of former WBA 154-pound champion Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) in their fight on the Artur Beterbiev card against Dmitry Bivol 2.
Will Ortiz Jr. steal the show?
Oscar says it’s a tough fight for Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KO) after his grueling battle against Serhii Bohachuk on August 10. Vergil Jr, 26, was abandoned twice in this fight he took many heavy shots and was lucky to win.
The punishment Bohachuk’s latest opponent, Ishmael Davis, meted out to him last Saturday night in Riyadh was nothing compared to what Ortiz Jr. absorbed last August. That’s why question marks remain over whether Vergil Jr. will be able to stand up to Madrimov’s rule on February 22.
Even if he had time to recover from the hits he took from Bohachuk, it might not be enough for him to face a guy who hits just as hard, if not harder, against “Little GGG.” This is not a fight where Vergil Jr. can count on winning by outboxing Madrimov like he did against Bohachuk over the last three rounds to pick up the victory.
“Little GGG”: the power of Madrimov
“Style-wise, it’s a tough fight. Vergil just scored a tremendous victory against [Serhii] Bohachuk,” Oscar De La Hoya told Fight Hub TVspeaking about Vergil Ortiz Jr. defending his WBC interim 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 hits hard like a mule [kicks]and he comes forward. This is going to be a very entertaining fight. Vergil Ortiz will 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 his team study their opponents to make sure Vergil is in optimal condition,” Oscar said.
Madrimov has a completely different style than Bohachuk, and he is far from the same. De La Hoya is mistaken, thinking they have similar styles.
Bohachuk is a relentless, high-volume puncher who never stops throwing. In contrast, Madrimov is a low-output boxer with high power. Their similarities lie in their excellent hitting power. Madrimov has better hand speed than Bohachuk, but not by much.
Madrimov lost his last fight against Terence Crawford by a close 12-round unanimous decision on August 3 in Los Angeles. Madrimov was winnable over the final four rounds, but he let Crawford take the win by outplaying him.
He showed too much respect for Crawford and didn’t relentlessly attack him like he needed to. If you could have transplanted Bohachuk’s aggressive style to Madrimov in those final four rounds, he probably would have knocked out Crawford or, at the very least, put him on the run.
Bounce
Vergil Jr. had huge problems against Bohachuk, getting dropped in the first and eighth rounds. Ortiz Jr’s 12-round majority decision victory on August 10 was controversial and damaged his popularity. What made things worse was not offering Bohachuk a rematch. This reinforced fans’ opinions that Ortiz Jr. knew he lost and didn’t want to fight Serhii again, fearing the judges wouldn’t get it right this time.
“Vergil is a very intelligent young man who knows how to take care of business. He knows how to adapt. I think those adjustments in the first quarter of the fight and the first half of the fight are going to be very important,” De La Hoya said.
