Vergil Ortiz Jr. says he expects his fight against Israil Madrimov to be “chess match” next month when they fight in a 12-round bout on February 22 in Riyadh.
Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) will defend his WBC junior middleweight title that he was lucky to win in his last fight against Serhii Bohachuk against former WBA 154 lb champion Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs ).
Madrimov’s power against the pace of Ortiz Jr
Former amateur star Madrimov has the skill and power advantage over Ortiz Jr., but doesn’t possess the same punch or stamina. If Israel can’t throw more and fight harder in the later rounds, Vergil Jr. will win this match.
As we saw in Madrimov’s recent loss to Terence Crawford, he uses too many feints and waits too long to throw his punches. When Madrimov throws, it’s always just one shot. He is not a combination batsman. He feints for 30 seconds, then throws one punch, then starts over. That’s why he lost to Crawford and why he might lose to Vergil.
“I can’t tell you how it will go. I think it will be a chess match, but it will be fun. It’s just going to be fun,” Vergil Ortiz Jr. said. for Queensberry Promotions’ YouTube channel about his title defense against Israil Madrimov on February 22 in Riyadh.
“I think there’s a lot of crap with people. ‘Oh, I see fear,’ said Vergil Jr. when asked what he saw during the confrontation with Israil Madrimov. “I’m just there looking at you because I have to. you know what I mean I can’t see anything. I just say, ‘It’s part of the job or whatever,’ trying not to laugh. That’s what I’m thinking about. I’m trying not to laugh or something. It’s just honest,” Ortiz Jr. said.
Recent controversies
Both fighters have been in recent matches that could have easily gone the other way with the tables turning. Madrimov outpointed Terence Crawford but was handed a questionable 12-round unanimous decision on August 3 last year. Vergil Jr. had a lot of luck winning a 12-round majority decision over WBC interim 154 lb champion Bohachuk on August 10th.
Ortiz Jr. was knocked out twice, and appeared to have lost six of twelve rounds. Under normal circumstances, this would have meant a loss, but the judges awarded it to Vergil, the fighter on the A side, and now he is the new WBC Interim Champion.
Obviously, it would have been better if Vergil had clarified the controversy, but he chose not to. This does not help his career as fans now see him as a tainted partial champion. Turki Al-Sheikh should have insisted that Vergil Jr. to give Bohachuk a rematch before he appears on any of his shows.
