De La Hoya: Ortiz Jr. will steal the show against Madrimov

Oscar De La Hoya predicts his fighter, WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr., will “steal the show” on the February 22 card by defeating ‘Little GGG’ Israil Madrimov in Riyadh.

De La Hoya feels Vergil Jr’s ring smarts will allow him to handle the power of former WBA 154-lb champion Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) in their fight at the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 map.

Will Ortiz Jr. the show stealer?

Oscar says it’s a tough fight for Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) to take out his grueling fight against Serhii Bohachuk on August 10th. Vergil Jr, 26, was dropped twice in that fight, took a lot of heavy shots and was lucky to win.

The punishment that Bohachuk’s last opponent, Ishmael Davis, meted out to him last Saturday night in Riyadh was nothing compared to what Ortiz Jr. took. absorbed last August. Therefore, there are question marks about whether Vergil Jr. on February 22 can stand against the power of Madrimov.

While he has had time to recover from the beating he took from Bohachuk, it may not be enough for him to handle a guy who hits just as hard, if not harder, against ‘Little GGG’. This is not a fight where Vergil Jr. can count on winning by outboxing Madrimov as he did against Bohachuk in the last three rounds to get the win.

‘Little GGG’: Madrimov’s power

“Style-wise, it’s a tough battle. Vergil is coming off a tremendous win against (Serhii) Bohachuk,” said Oscar De La Hoya. Fight Hub TVtalking about Vergil Ortiz Jr. who defends his WBC interim junior middleweight title against Israil Madrimov next month on February 22 in Riyadh.

“So, almost similar styles in a way. Madrimov has a better boxing IQ, but hits hard like a mule (kick), and he comes forward. It’s going to be a very entertaining fight. Vergil Ortiz will that night the show stealer.

“Vergil Ortiz is a very smart fighter. He knows exactly what to do inside the ring. I’m sure he studies his opponents. His cornerman and team study their opponents to make sure Vergil is in optimal conditions,” said Oscar.

Madrimov is a completely different style than Bohachuk, and he is nowhere near the same. De La Hoya got it wrong, thinking they have similar styles.

Bohachuk is a relentless, high-volume puncher who never stops throwing. In contrast, Madrimov is a low-output boxer with great power. Their similarities lie in their excellent hitting power. Madrimov has better hand speed than Bohachuk, but not by much.

Madrimov lost his last fight to Terence Crawford by a close 12 round unanimous decision on August 3rd in Los Angeles. It was a winnable one for Madrimov going into the final four rounds, but he let Crawford get the win by outworking him.

He showed too much respect for Crawford and didn’t attack him as relentlessly as he needed to. If you could have transplanted Bohachuk’s aggressive style into Madrimov in the last four rounds, he probably would have knocked Crawford out or, at the very least, put him on the run.

bounce back

Vergil Jr. had major problems against Bohachuk and was knocked out in rounds one and eight. Ortiz Jr’s 12-round majority decision victory on August 10 was controversial and hurt his popularity. What made it worse was not giving Bohachuk a rematch. This confirmed supporters’ view that Ortiz Jr. knew he lost and didn’t want to fight Serhii again, fearing the judges would get it right this time.

“Vergil is a very intelligent young man who knows how to take care of things. He knows how to adapt. I think those adjustments in the first quarter of the fight and first half of the fight are going to be very important,” De La Hoya said.