Vergil Ortiz Jr. says he expects his fight against Israil Madrimov to be a “chess match» next month when they face off in a 12-round match on February 22 in Riyadh.
Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KO) will defend his interim WBC junior middleweight title that he was lucky to secure in his last fight against Serhii Bohachuk against former WBA 154-pound champion Madrimov (10 -1-1, 7 KO).
Madrimov’s power against Ortiz Jr’s pace.
Former amateur star Madrimov has the edge in skill and power over Ortiz Jr., but he doesn’t possess the same punching power or stamina. If Israil is unable to throw more and fight harder in the later rounds, Vergil Jr. will take the victory in 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 shots. When Madrimov throws, it’s always one punch. This is not a combo puncher. He feints for 30 seconds, then throws a single punch, then does it again. This is why he lost to Crawford, and why he might lose to Vergil.
“I can’t tell you how it’s going to go. I think it’s going to be a chess match, but it’s going to be fun. It’s just going to be fun,” Vergil Ortiz Jr. told Queensberry Promotions. YouTube Channel about his title defense against Israil Madrimov on February 22 in Riyadh.
“I think there’s a lot of bullshit with people. “Oh, I see fear,” Vergil Jr. said when asked what he saw during his confrontation with Israil Madrimov. “I’m just here looking at you because I have to. Do you see what I mean? I don’t see anything. I’m just like, “It’s part of the job or something,” trying not to laugh. That’s what I’m thinking about. I try not to laugh or anything. It’s just to be honest,” Ortiz Jr. said.
Recent controversies
Both fighters have been in recent matches that could have easily gone the other way if the roles were reversed. Madrimov beat Terence Crawford, but earned a questionable 12-round unanimous decision on August 3 last year. Vergil Jr. got very lucky in winning a 12-round majority decision over WBC interim 154-pound champion Bohachuk on August 10.
Ortiz Jr. was dropped twice and appeared to lose six of twelve rounds. Normally that would mean a loss, but the judges awarded it to Vergil, the A-side fighter, and now he is the new WBC interim champion.
Obviously, it would have been better for Vergil to clear up the controversy, but he chose not to. This doesn’t help his career as fans now view him as a tainted partial champion. Turki Al-Sheikh should have insisted that Vergil Jr. give Bohachuk a rematch before he could appear on any more of his shows.
