Tag Archives: Vergil Ortiz
Vergil Ortiz: “I want Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia Or Porter Next”
By: Hans Themistode
At the age of 22 with only 16 pro fights under his belt, Vergil Ortiz is largely viewed as a prospect. One with an extremely bright future, but a prospect nevertheless.
Despite that, Ortiz wants to shed his prospect label and jump immediately into title contention. The normally active Dallas native was forced to settle for one ring appearance during the calendar year. A seventh-round stoppage win over fringe contender Samuel Vargas in late July.
For most, the win wasn’t surprising considering he was a 5000-1 favorite on the night. At this point in his career though, Ortiz isn’t interested in facing below-average opposition. While the easy wins may keep his perfect record intact, if it was up to him, he’d be matched up with those at the very top.
“I want Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia or Porter next,” explained Vargas on the Ak and Barak show. “If I could choose that’s who I would want next but if they were to offer me Terence Crawford I would definitely take it.”
Bouts against those at the top of the division is something that many believe isn’t exactly warranted considering his current position in the welterweight landscape. With a return date roughly scheduled for the first half of the new year, Ortiz isn’t expected to face anyone in the division’s top ten. Whomever is chosen to face the hard hitting 22-year-old, Ortiz won’t complain. He simply wants to let everyone know that his name should be mentioned amongst the best that the division has to offer.
“I just feel like I’ve grown as a fighter. I’m only getting stronger and faster as time goes on so I just feel like I’m starting to belong with those names. I know what I’m capable of.”
Although Ortiz gave his list of preferable names to face, one fighter that stuck out to him immediately was pound for pound star and current WBO 147 pound champion Terence Crawford.
For the aforementioned Crawford, he’s coming fresh off his own impressive stoppage win against former belt holder Kell Brook just a few weeks ago. Following his fourth-round dismantling, Crawford received high praise for his performance.
Ortiz though, just so happened to be watching as well. Unlike several who were tuned in, he wasn’t impressed.
“That fight gave me a little confidence boost. He’s not completely untouchable like everyone thinks he is. I can give anyone a tough fight.”
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DAZN Boxing Results: Vergil Ortiz Scores His 16th Straight Knockout
Another contest, another knockout win for Vergil Ortiz (16-0, 16 KOs). His latest victim in Samuel Vargas (31-6-2, 14 KOs) was thought to be a much stiffer opponent, but that simply was not the case.
Ortiz simply walked through Vargas much like his previous 15 opponents. With the win, Ortiz finds himself in line to compete for a world title sooner rather than later.
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Vergil Ortiz Returns on July 24th Against Samuel Vargas
By: Hans Themistode
For the first time in months, streaming service DAZN, will give its waning audience a live boxing event.
Taking center stage one week ago today on Friday July 24th, will be welterweight knockout artist Vergil Ortiz (15-0, 15 KOs). Joining him in the ring will be fringe contender Samuel Vargas (31-5-2, 14 KOs). The two are set to meet in a closed door venue in California.
For Ortiz, the mission has always been the same. Make the life of the judges as easy as possible. With 15 knockout wins in 15 career appearances, he has effectively done just that. But with each jaw breaking right hand that he lands, he hasn’t made much headway in the talent rich welterweight division.
With unified champion Errol Spence Jr, WBO belt holder Terence Crawford and WBA titlist Manny Pacquiao leading the way, Ortiz has found himself on the outside looking in. His dream of becoming a world champion in his own right will begin against a contender who has fallen just short.
Samuel Vargas has yet to fight for a world title during his ten year career. He has, however, found himself in the ring with belt holders. In 2016 and 2017, Vargas was left kissing the canvas courtesy of Danny Garcia and Errol Spence Jr. He did manage to bounce back from those losses to win four straight, only to lose at the hands of another pair of former champions in Amir Khan and Luis Collazo.
With a number of shortcomings in his career, the confidence of Vargas is still trending upwards. That statement is mostly due to his most recent win against Silverio Ortiz in June of 2019.
Although his contest against Ortiz will not have any championship implications, he will have a chance to make a statement.
Also featured on the card will be two undefeated prospects in Seniesa Estrada (18-0, 7 KOs) and Hector Tanajara Jr. (19-0, 5 KOs).
The action kicks off on DAZN at 8 PM on July 24th.
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Vergil Ortiz Discusses With Boxing Insider His Future Plans, His Beef With Errol Spence Jr and His Upcoming Clash Against Samuel Vargas
Welterweight knockout artist Vergil Ortiz is currently hard at work for his July 24th clash against Samuel Vargas. However, he momentarily paused his preparations in order to give Boxing Insider radio a bit of his time. Together they discussed various topics such as the names he is currently eyeing for future matchups and if he expects to leave his upcoming opponent unconscious for the 16th consecutive time in his career.
To listen in on the conversation, head over to Spotify, iTunes or BoxingInsider.com to subscribe.
Vergil Ortiz finds himself in boxing purgatory.
With only 15 fights under his belt, the word prospect comes to mind when discussing his current standing. A high level one, but a prospect nevertheless. Yet with every single one of 15 wins coming via stoppage, including a third round pounding against former title challenger Mauricio Herrera, Ortiz would rather have the contender tag attached to his name instead.
The path to achieving his immediate goal will be directly in front of him on July 24th, when he takes on the always durable Samuel Vargas at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.
As of late, consistency has not been on the side of Vargas. He’s split his past four ring appearances while scoring a draw against fringe contender Mauro Godoy. With that being said however, the name Vargas does bring a level of cache to the table that Ortiz is hoping to capitalize on. With fights against former champions in Danny Garcia, Amir Khan and Luis Collazo Vargas has proven to be a viable name.
While a win has always been the most important goal when a fighter steps in between the ropes, for Ortiz, the win is a formality. He more so finds himself focused on how he’ll look in the ring, rather than the end result.
“I’m looking for win number 16,” said Ortiz on Boxing Insider radio. ”But I don’t care about getting him out honestly. The only thing that I care about is winning and I look good doing it. You have to look a certain way. Just because you stopped someone doesn’t mean you did good. Also just because you didn’t stop someone doesn’t mean you didn’t do good. I know he’s not someone that I will have to go catch, he’s going to come to fight. I’m going to be ready for that and everything that he brings to the table.”
For the 22 year old Ortiz, his performances have always been bombastic inside of the ring, but 2020 has been a quiet one. The 2019 ESPN prospect of the year has built his reputation on not only eye catching knockouts, but also quick fight turn arounds. Yet with COVID-19 not appearing to slow down, Ortiz has found himself outside of the ring for seven months. Nevertheless, regardless of the lack of punches he has thrown inside of the ring, he has thrown plenty on social media.
Over the past several months Ortiz and fellow Dallas native and unified Welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. have been going back and forth on both YouTube and their respective social media accounts.
Spence recalled Ortiz visiting his gym as a young fighter and described the knockout artist as a “cry baby.” Those words were immediately followed up with an innocuous laugh. But to Ortiz, there was nothing to smile about. The undefeated young star not only fired back at Spence, but also claimed that a future showdown was inevitable.
On the outside looking in, it would appear that the issues between the two fighters were anything but benign. Now however, Ortiz wants to make his words clear.
“Basically he said a few things in an interview where it felt like a slight jab. Nothing too serious, but when somebody says something about you, you can’t let it slide. I don’t have a problem with him, I still respect him. I grew up watching him.”
Spence isn’t the only name on the mile long hit list of Ortiz in which he wishes to scratch off. The knockout artist is eyeing everyone at the top of the Welterweight division.
“I want to fight everyone man. I legitimately want to fight everyone. Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman hopefully if he is healthy. Down the line I want to fight Errol, Crawford and Ugas as well, he’s another great fighter. I just want to fight everyone. I’m looking to prove to people that I deserve to be up there with the top dogs.”
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Vergil Ortiz: “I think I’ll Be Ready For Errol Spence in Less Than Two Years”
By: Hans Themistode
For years unified Welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr couldn’t buy a fight. Hell, at one point he could barely get any of the top name fighters to even say his name. Now however, things have changed.
With huge wins over Kell Brook, Lamont Peterson, Mikey Garcia and most recently Shawn Porter, Spence has no shortage of huge fights right at his fingertips.
Still, even with most believing that Spence is the best that the Welterweight division has to offer, he still has to make a bit of noise before some of the more notable names decide to fight him. One fighter however, is anxious to get in the ring with him right now.
“I think I’ll be ready for Errol Spence in less than two years, honestly,” said Welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz. “I don’t want to wait too long to where he’s already on his way out. I want to say that I beat Errol in his prime. Hopefully, we get it on in the Cowboys Stadium.”
Ortiz has grown his popularity over the years thanks to his knockout power. He hasn’t exactly faced the best competition, but through 15 career fights, he has yet to see the final bell. Calling Ortiz a contender would be a bit of a stretch, but he’s seemed to done enough to gain the attention of Spence who was in attendance to catch one of his most recent performance in 2019.
“I’m actually pretty happy that he showed up [for the fight]. It means a lot to me. He used to be my teammate, and he’s a great fighter,” said Ortiz after his win over Orozco last August. “I want to be a four-division world champion. I just want to be remembered.”
Both Spence and Ortiz do share a bit of history with one another as they grew up in the same area in Texas. They also trained in the same gym together.
With Spence being eight years older than Ortiz, the thought of a contest never actually crossed his mind. But with Ortiz making a bit of noise in his weight class, the unlikely pairing between the two could become a reality.
