WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr says he wants a title shot against any of the three champions at 154 that can give him the chance following his 12-round unanimous decision win over Israil Madrimov last Saturday night at The Venue in Riyadh.
Potential Foes
– Bakhram Murtazaliev: IBF
– Sebastian Fundora: WBC and WBO
– Terence Crawford: WBA
The simplest of those three is Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs), but he’s also essentially the most dangerous puncher. Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KOs) would must change his approach against him because he couldn’t just go straight at Murtazaliev like he did against Madrimov (10-2-1, 7 KOs). He hits too hard for Vergil to out-brawl him, and he won’t run as Madrimov did.
Ortiz Jr. had trouble enough because it was against Madrimov, but it surely could be worse against Bakhram. Vergil defeated Madrimov by the scores of 115-113, 115-113, and 117-111.
“If someone goes to present me a probability to fight for a belt, let’s go for it,” said Vergil Jr to Ring Magazine.
“We just fought a superb fight against a terrific opponent. I’m very joyful with my performance,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr. to The Stomping Ground after his win over Israil Madrimov last Saturday night. “What he gave us, that’s what we thought was going to occur.
“He has good power, but it surely’s not scary,” said Ortiz Jr. when asked if Madrimov has good power. “Mean Machine [Egidijus Kavaliauskas] was scary power. I’ll let you know that I don’t like getting hit by him. There hasn’t been one other fighter that I’m like, ‘Let me be careful.’ Him [Madrimov] was identical to, ‘Okay, I can take this.’” said Ortiz Jr.
Vergil Jr’s face was lots more badly marked up against Madrimov than it was in his fight against Kavaliauskas. So, that tells you that his perception of Madrimov’s power was off because he was catching him with some big shots that looked more powerful than those he was hit with against ‘Mean Machine of their fight on August 14, 2021.
Ortiz Jr. needs to present up on his hopes of fighting Terence Crawford because he’s not going to assist him out by offering a title shot. Crawford is fighting WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September thirteenth. After that fight, he’ll likely retire unless Turki Alalshikh offers him a ton of cash to fight someone like newly crowned undisputed light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
“It really wasn’t frustrating because eventually, he’s going to must fight,” said Vergil Jr. when asked if he was frustrated by the movement of Madrimov. “I can fight from the surface, too. It’s not like I’m only a fighter that [plods forward]. I will be that fighter if I would like to bully you if he’s not giving me anything and he’s not doling out anything.
“I even have a superb jab, and I can fight from the surface too. Fighting someone that’s moving lots isn’t an issue for me,” said Ortiz Jr.
Last Updated on 02/24/2025
