Ortiz Beats Bohachuk – What’s Next?
Vergil Ortiz Jr. defeated Serhii Bohachuk via a majority decision, leaving question marks over their next steps.
Ortiz was knocked down two times but was given the decision after a strong finish to the fight. The result divided the boxing community, with some feeling that a draw should have been declared. Ortiz maintained that he had won the fight, claiming that one of the knockdowns should not have happened. Meanwhile, Bohachuk felt he had done enough to win the bout. Both fighters had plenty to say in their post-fight comments. Meanwhile, some even had Bohachuk winning.
Reaction
“I felt like I did enough. I proved everyone wrong who said that I’m washed, I can’t go to 154 pounds and I can’t go the distance or can’t fight past Round 9. [And] I read all of those comments and all that of fueled me. I’m the best in the world right now and I’m going to keep showing it.
“As much as I want to say that people’s opinions don’t matter, they do. [And] I fight for the fans and it’s electrifying to hear the crowd watch me fight. I take people’s opinions into consideration but, at the end of the day, I just go out there and work hard.
“I don’t think those should have been knockdowns. The second one, for sure. But the first one, I felt I hit his foot or some[thing] but I make no excuses. Let’s do it, man. I’m ready for a challenge. I think Bud is probably No. 1 pound-for-pound in the world and I want to show that I have what it takes to beat him,” Ortiz
“I can say that the people who understand boxing watching this fight, they know what happened today. I am feeling great. I’m happy with the way I fought. I feel like I won. I had two knockdowns, I mean, come on guys?” Bohachuk
Ortiz’s Options
In his post-fight comments, Ortiz declared his intention to face Sabastian Fundora. Ortiz is the WBC Junior Interim Middleweight Champion after the win, meaning he is mandatory for Fundora. Fundora holds the full WBC belt and the WBO title, setting up a huge unification. Sabastian won the title after beating Tim Tszyu and is expected to face Errol Spence Jr. next. If that fight happens, Ortiz has a massive fight before him.
Ortiz also called out Terence Crawford. Bud defeated Israil Madrimov in his last fight to become the WBA Junior Middleweight Champion. Bud has the option to pursue a fight with Canelo Alvarez at 168. But that is unlikely to happen since Canelo has distanced himself from the fight. If Crawford cannot get a unification at 154, Ortiz could become a big name to face. Ortiz is undefeated and has knocked out all of his opponents except Bohachuk.
Another alternative is to have a rematch with Bohachuk. The CompuBox numbers showed that Bohachuk threw 85 more punches, showing a higher work rate. But Ortiz connected with 40 more punches. Bohacuk landed two knockdowns in rounds one and eight, while Ortiz threw more power shots. His power shots were 16 in comparison to Bohachuk’s 11. At the end of the fight, Ortiz outlanded his opponent from 112 to 89. Turki Alalshikh wants to see a rematch before a Crawford fight is made.
“It was a great fight. I thought it was a draw. We want him for Crawford, but if he has a rematch in the future with this guy, it would be amazing,” Turki Alalshikh said
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