Serhii Bohachuck-Vergil Ortiz Jr. it's not finished, it's not guaranteed, but the fighters want it.
Serhii Bohachuk and Tom Loeffler. Photo by Brandon Rivas / 360 Promotions
A fight between junior middleweight standouts Serhii Bohachuk and Vergil Ortiz Jr. it is a game that is expected to produce fireworks.
The good thing is that both fighters want a fight. It is now up to their parties to find common ground and reach an agreement.
Tom Loeffler, the head of 360 Boxing Promotions and Bohachuk's promoter, clarified what was said in an article that appeared in Boxingscene last week that falsely stated that the fight between Ortiz and Bohachuk was completed.
“To be clear, I did an interview (Thursday) about that fight,” Loeffler told The Ring on Friday night. “I said that the two fighters agreed to fight each other, but it was not agreed upon.” They talked to us when (it was decided that) Tim Tszyu could not compete (on August 3). They, Golden Boy and TGB (Promotions), had reached out and I said that Serhii will take the fight. Serhii agreed. From what I understand, Golden Boy's side and Vergil Ortiz's side agreed to (i) fight. Both fighters, both fighting camps, agreed, but no terms were agreed upon. There is no guarantee that there will be in this game (August 3).”
Golden Boy has promoted Ortiz since his debut in July 2016.
Ortiz was scheduled to fight Tszyu on the Riyadh Season card on August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The fight was to precede a headline fight between Ring Magazine welterweight champion Terence Crawford and newly crowned WBA world junior middleweight champion Israel Madrimov.
Last week, on the advice of his medical team, Tszyu withdrew from the Ortiz fight as the cut on his hair from his split decision loss to Sebastian Fundora on March 30 has not fully healed. Tszyu lost the WBO world title to Fundora.
Bohachuk (24-1, 23 knockouts), who rated no. 4 by The Ring at 154 pounds and now lives and trains in Los Angeles, fought the same March 30 card that took place in Las Vegas, defeating Brian Mendoza by unanimous decision. Bohachuk has won his last six fights since suffering his only career loss at the hands of Brandon Adams in March 2021.
On April 8 of last year, Mendoza knocked out Fundora in one of the biggest fights of 2023, but lost a decision to Tszyu six months later.
Ortiz (21-0, 21 KOs), who lives in Grand Prairie, Texas, last fought on April 27, knocking out world title challenger Thomas Dulorme in the opening round. Ortiz, 26, is owned by Rick Mirigian and trained by Robert Garcia.
Loeffler hopes that Ortiz vs. Bohachuk can be done. He believes that with their aggressive, hard-hitting styles, the fans will be the ones to win.
“I think it's a great game, regardless of the outcome of the fight,” Loeffler said. “Both of these guys, all their victories come by knockout. So, I don't know how you can get a better match than that. Serhii is the interim WBC (junior middleweight) champion and Vergil holds the WBA Gold title. It's a really good game if there's a way we can make that fight happen.”
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has handled boxing in Southern California and internationally since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. They can be reached at [email protected]
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