Boxing Community Reacts Following Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s Hospitalisation
Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s withdrawal from his fight with Eimantas Stanionis has raised a strong reaction.
The unbeaten American with 19 wins and 19 KOs was set to face Stanionis for his WBA ‘regular’ welterweight title on July 8th, 2023.
While that may have been the case, the fighter pulled out as they were scheduled to have their pre-fight presser.
It turns out that Ortiz had fainted and was taken to hospital as he struggled to make the welterweight limit.
The bout between Eimantas Stanionis and Vergil Ortiz Jr is cancelled. According to Dan Rafael, Ortiz fainted and was rushed to the hospital. pic.twitter.com/4vpmtegjaI
— SportsManda (@manda_sports) July 7, 2023
That resulted in a strong statement from Golden Boy Promotions who had no choice but to act.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our fighters, and we of course support Vergil’s decision 100 percent.
“This unfortunate event does however open the door for one of Golden Boy’s top prospects, Floyd Schofield, to accelerate his profile by headlining in his home state of Texas.
“We will, as always, put on a high-action card from top to bottom on July 8 and look forward to showcasing all of our fighters both in San Antonio and on DAZN,” Golden Boy Promotions
As a result, the co-main event of Floyd Schofield vs. Haskell Rhodes has been upgraded as the headlining bout. And yet, the main focus on the boxing community has understandably been towards Ortiz.
His promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, came out to confirm that his fighter would be moving up to junior middleweight, as a way to make the weight more comfortably.
However, in doing so, Ortiz missed out on the chance to become the mandatory for Errol Spence Jr. or Terence Crawford, as victory would have given him the WBA interim title.
“Look, he’s a big kid, so I think 154 would be ideal. Virgil Ortiz was going to fight for the world title, and he was in line to challenge Errol Spence; he was in line to challenge Crawford, the winner of that fight,”
“Everything was great to the last second, everything was great, he looked amazing. Stitch, his cut man, was saying, ‘Man, Vergil Ortiz looks better than ever.’
“It’s unfortunate, but like I said, his health is first and then we’ll take it from there,” Oscar De La Hoya said
Nevertheless, it is important to bear in mind the following points. By moving up to 154 pounds, Ortiz will still have the chance for some mega fights.
Jermell Charlo is the current undisputed champion there, meanwhile, the winner of Crawford and Spence is expected to move up too.
Regardless of what the case may be, the fighter’s well-being is the most important thing. And this has been seen through the reaction of other fighters who came out to support Ortiz in light of what had happened.
And one of them was none other than Jaron Ennis. The latter defends his IBF interim welterweight title against Roiman Villa on July 8th, 2023.
And given that Ennis has been targeting a bout between the winner of Ortiz and Stanionis, the welterweight had a few things to say on the matter.
Although he did double on his belief that he wanted to face Stanionis, he also recognised the tough time that Ortiz will have been going through.
With that being said, Ennis hoped Ortiz would return back stronger.
“I feel like he should just focus on himself and get himself healthy and then worry about fighting again,” Ennis
In reality, Ortiz’s career will suffer a setback. The fighter has had to deal with a lot of health issues of late. This is the third time that a fight with Stanionis has been pulled.
Initially it was set for March 18th, 2023, however, it was postponed when Stanionis underwent an emergency appendectomy.
Although it was rescheduled for April 29th, 2023, Ortiz Jr. couldn’t participate due to his rhabdomyolysis.
And at the time, the fighter was keen on winning a world title this year.
“Vergil works tirelessly to prepare for his fights and this, of course, is a huge disappointment to Golden Boy, to him and his family. Despite this setback, I truly believe Vergil remains focused and will achieve his goal of becoming world champion this year,” Oscar De La Hoya
Nevertheless, there is still a silver lining in light of all of this. Ortiz is only 25-years-old and a fighter who is still unbeaten in his career so far.
The boxer is one of the few fighters out there to have a 100 percent KO rate, which includes none other than Artur Beterbiev.
And given that he has stopped all of his opponents, the boxer does have a loyal fan base who will back him due to his American and Mexican connections.
But the question remains is can he return back to his best? Time will tell how it all plays out moving forward.
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