Promoter Oscar De La Hoya predicts the Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov junior middleweight clash will be “The Fight of the Year” on Saturday night in Riyadh.
De La Hoya believes this is going to be a war for as long as it lasts, with Vergil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) defending his WBC 154-lb title against former WBA champ Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) on Turki Alalshikh’s stacked card on February 22nd.
Fight of The Year?
It could be a Fight of the Year, but not if Vergil Jr. chooses to box Madrimov as he did late in his last fight after being dropped for the second time by Serhii Bohachuk on August 10th. Vergil stopped brawling completely and jabbed and moved for the last three rounds
Turki Alalshikh should have made Israil Madrimov vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr. the co-feature on this card because it’s the fight that the fans are talking about the most in the build-up for Saturday’s event.
There’s very little interest in the two fights that Turki placed ahead of the Madrimov-Ortiz Jr fight on the undercard; anyone could have predicted that.
Undercard running order
– Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker
– Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
– Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov
– Agit Kabayek vs. Zhilei Zhang
– Joshua Buatsi vs. Callum Smith
– Shakur Stevenson vs. Josh Padley
– Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Olivei
– Mohammed Alakel vs. Engel Gomez
“The one thing I feel Vergil has to do is be himself. He has his father, who’s training him with Robert Garcia. They know what to do,” said Oscar De La Hoy to Golden Boy Boxing about Saturday night’s fight between WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergio Ortiz Jr. and Israil Madrimov in Riyadh.
“They know they’re facing Madrimov, who is coming off a great fight, who fought [Terence] Crawford. So, Vergil just has to be himself and do what he does best. He thinks in the ring. He’s strong, he’s fast, and he has all the edge. He has everything to gain on Saturday night. Live on DAZN.
“This fight between Ortiz and Madrimov, it’s going to be ‘Fight of the Year,’ fight of the night, fight of everything. It’s going to be the best fight out there. I’m telling you. Ortiz and Madrimov are both professionals. They’re both strong, fast, and durable,” said De La Hoya.
Hopefully, the Ortiz Jr-Madrimov fight lives up to the billing because it’s the one clash on paper that promises to be an exciting contest. The card might need it if some of the fights are disappointments.
“I believe this is the biggest card of all time. We obviously have to thank Turki for making it happen, and everybody involved. Bob Arum, Eddie Hearn, Golden Boy. We’re making it happen,” said De La Hoya.
