On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Vergil Ortiz Jr. shook off two knockdowns to eke out a majority decision win over Serhii Bohachuk (114-112×2, 113-113) to become the new interim WBC super welterweight champion.
Looking back at the 154-pound scrap, three things stood out.
First, the fight was a fantastic scrap, far better than many other highly promoted fights this year.
Second, despite Ortiz Jr. hitting the canvas twice and still winning the decision, Bohachuk was not robbed.
Third, while Ortiz put on a show and pulled out the win over the tough Ukrainian, he did not look like a guy ready to challenge WBA super welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
The fight was nonstop action from the beginning to the end. The two KO artists met in the center of the ring and went toe-to-toe for a good portion of the fight. Both men landed their share of hard power shots, but Ortiz’s punches appeared to do more damage.
On several occasions, Bohachuk looked mildly staggered after taking some of Ortiz’s punches, but neither man was ever in trouble. Ben Chan of CompuBox described the match as “a firefight from start to finish.”
Ortiz and Bohachuk combined to throw a whopping and video-game-like 1,579 punches. Bohachuk threw 85 more punches, but Ortiz was more accurate, connecting on 40 more punches than his opponent. The two knockdowns Bohachuk scored were legit, but Ortiz was never hurt by the punches he took before his glove touched the canvas.
The first one was initially called a slip, but after replay, it was rightfully changed to a legal knockdown. Bohachuk landed a right hand on the side of Ortiz’s head, and he went to the canvas with a knee, both hands touching it for less than a second.
Ortiz immediately began shaking his head, denying he was dropped, and his appeal worked at first, but the replay ultimately came through. Both corners were notified during the fifth round.
Here is a look at the knockdown:
The second knockdown happened in the eighth round when Bohachuk landed another shot that pushed Ortiz off balance.
It came from a whacking left hook that landed legitimately, but it was called a knockdown without delay this time. Sensing the sudden urgency, Ortiz came out firing and seemed to take control of the round.
Ortiz’s onslaught over the final four rounds was the difference, as Bohachuk remained competitive but could only manage the draw on one of the judges’ scorecards. While the fight was exciting, Ortiz vs. Crawford seems like a lopsided matchup favoring the pound-for-pound king.
Crawford’s spin, accuracy, and overall slickness would likely be too much for this version of Ortiz. When Ortiz was asked about a potential fight with Crawford, he didn’t sound too eager to set one up.
He said it’s a fight he wants but called out the winner of Sebastian Fundora and Errol Spence with a little more confidence.
Crawford wanted to fight Canelo Alvarez next, but that fight may not be in the cards, so it will be interesting to see if he fights Ortiz or another of the top fighters at 154 pounds.
