Vergil Ortiz Jr’s First Big Step To Stardom: Stop Self-Sabotaging

It’s a rough take when you say that any fight, for any 26-year-old, is really a “must win” fight.

But Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s bout this Saturday against interim WBC junior middleweight champ Serhii Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs) is close to being a “must win” or “do or die” proposition.

Once red-hot and riding a “can’t miss prospect” reputation, Ortiz (21-0, 21 KOs) made his mark running through a series of solid veteran opposition such as Mauricio Herrera, Antonio Orozco, Brad Solomon, and Maurice Hooker. However, his August, 2021 victory over Egidijus Kavaliauskas– in which he was buzzed with a shot in the second round– would wind up being the last meaningful win of his career up to the present tense.

Since the Kavaliauskas fight, there’s been nothing but stalls and backward steps in his career. Bouts with the muscle condition rhabdomyolysis and the increasingly difficult task of trying to make the 147 lb. welterweight limit kept the Mexican-American battler on the shelf. On two occasions, he had to pull out of bouts with WBA welterweight titlist Eimantas Stanionis and even had to postpone a fairly meaningless fight with the UK’s Michael McKinson.

A move up to junior middleweight following a 16-month layoff was prescribed as the cure to Ortiz’s health and weight-related issues. He’s scored two first-round knockouts since his return– versus well-weathered natural welterweights Fredrick Lawson and Thomas Dulorme. In neither of those bouts, did Ortiz actually make the 154 lb. limit (he weighed 156 and 155.5, respectively).

After an aborted proposed bout with Tim Tszyu originally slated for the August 3 Riyadh Season card in Los Angeles, sights were set on the title try versus Bohachuk.

And Ortiz is sidling up to this opportunity at the perfect time to either make the ascension to next-level stardom or bury his career to the point where a major rebuild is necessary.

Ortiz Facing Make or Break Proposition

“I wouldn’t say this is a dream fight. This is a tough test that we have to get past to open up the doors to get the bigger fights,” Ortiz said during a Golden Boy face-to-face “The Showdown” feature. “This is a huge test.”

Ortiz has already been hand-picked as Terence Crawford’s alternative to a Canelo fight by his apparent sponsor Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.

In addition to the Crawford fight, 154 offers plenty of other opportunities. The former stopover weight class between welterweight and middleweight glamour divisions has become deep with talent such as Tim Tszyu, Sebastion Fundora, and several others, including supposed comeback-minded former world champs Jermell Charlo and Errol Spence.

The path is there for Ortiz to become a true star– but he’s got to stay healthy, stay on-weight, and, maybe most importantly, keep winning.

Bohachuk is a huge obstacle to that last one.

Bohachuk Standing In The Way

The 29-year-old Ukraine native is coming off a belt-winning performance versus Brian Mendoza in March and was riding a 5-fight streak of victories inside the distance before that. Like Ortiz, he likes to come forward and engage, but there’s also a touch of nuance behind Bohachuk’s game, specifically though a solid jab and a jarring follow-up right hand.

The defending interim titlist WILL touch Ortiz at some point with something big and then the intrigue will begin. Ortiz is used to being the bull and the bruiser in a fight. Against Bohachuk, he’ll be facing someone who is also a bull and a bruiser.

The two fighters know each other very well and spent time training together at Manny Robles’ Legends Boxing Academy in Norwalk, California where they reportedly sparred over 50 rounds in 2022. Neither will be surprised by what the other brings to the ring.

Ortiz Must Not Self-Sabotage

If Ortiz can get by this test, big fights await. With a loss– and a bad loss at that– promoter Golden Boy will have to pull back and regroup, working to rebuild under a recently signed multi-fight contract extension.

Then, of course, there’s the possibility that Ortiz may miss weight or do something between now and fight night that keeps him from entering the ring. That would probably be worse for his career than a big loss.

Time will tell when it comes to Vergil Ortiz Jr.

This Saturday, though, he gets his chance to turn back the reputation he’s earned over the last few years as someone sabotaging his own rise to the top. That’s the first big step to stardom.