Vergil Ortiz Jr. Shows Class in Hard-Fought Majority Decision Over Serhii Bohachuk

Vergil Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) passed his first big test as a junior middleweight and, arguably, as a pro Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas with a twelve round majority decision over Serhii Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KOs).

The victory not only bags the 26-year-old Grand Prairie, Texas native Bohachuk’s interim WBC junior middleweight title, but it officially opens the door to any number of lucrative 154 lb. bouts, notably one against Terence Crawford, who won the WBA junior middleweight and WBO interim titles last Saturday in his bout with Israil Madrimov.

Although the commentating team at DAZN– and much of the reporting media afterward– painted the all-action fight as a back-and-forth battle, the truth is that Ortiz was getting the better of things for most of the contest.

It was no doubt a tough affair and a hard-fought win, but the former welterweight top prospect got most of the better work done and, on this writer’s scorecard, took nine of the twelve rounds with harder punches and the more showy shots (although the official scorecards had the fight as a 114-112, 114-112, and 113-113 affair).

The Ukraine’s Bohachuk, 29, held strong throughout the contest and landed his share of nice shots while keeping Ortiz working with constant pressure. And, while he scored the two knockdowns of the fight, in the first and eighth (the first coming via instant replay reversal later in the bout), he never really hurt Ortiz at any point or won any large segment of the fight.

The great turning of the tide in the later rounds– as theorized by many Ortiz critics– never materialized and Ortiz seemed even sharper and more energized in the championship rounds, closing out the show with a thrilling barrage of shots met with Bohachuk return fire.

It was an impressive showing from the Robert Garcia-trained Ortiz, one where he utilized a lot more nuance and smart, economical movement than usual. Maybe born out of necessity, the touch of sweet science added to the brute violence made him look like more of a complete fighter and it served to make his opponent look stiff by comparison.

“I proved everyone wrong who said that I’m washed, I can’t fight at 154, I can’t go the distance…All of it fueled me,” Ortiz said after the win. “I’m the best in the world right now, and I’m going to keep showing it.

“I’m ready for a challenge. I think Bud [Crawford] is probably No. 1 pound for pound in the world and I want to show that I have what it takes to beat him.”

And, while that Ortiz-Crawford bout was proposed before the contest by Ortiz promoter, Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya and Saudi bankroller Turki Alalshikh, that goal may have been moved further down the road in favor of a rematch.

“It was a great fight. I thought it was a draw,” Alalshikh told FightHubTV after the bout.

“…No, Crawford, we have a thought about it. Ortiz, we could support to have a rematch like this.”

Since Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, has established “partnerships” with several boxing entities, including Golden Boy Promotions, through Riyadh Season sponsorship money, it’s likely De La Hoya and company will move in the direction he demands.

Whatever the case, Ortiz has officially established himself as a main stage player at 154 and has proven himself deserving of that placement.