Coach Stephen Edwards says Vergil Ortiz Jr. inflicted more punishment on former WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov last Saturday night than Terence Crawford did in his close victory over him last August.
Ortiz Jr’s Victory at a Cost
However, Vergil Jr. (23-0, 21 KOs) “got busted up” for it and looked badly marked up around the face. To look at the two fighters, you’d think that Madrimov won (10-2-1, 7 KOs) because he’d done a number on Ortiz Jr’s face.
The judges gave it to Vergil Jr. with the scores 115-113, 115-113, and 117-111. It was a costly victory for Ortiz Jr. because he’d taken the worst beating of his career, even worse than in his previous fight against Serhii Bohachuk.
Edwards says he’d favored Terence Crawford and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to defeat Vergil Jr. by a wide margin before last Saturday’s fight with Madrimov. He still favors both of them to beat him, but not by as wide a margin.
Crawford is one of the guys that Ortiz Jr. called out after his victory over Madrimov. The other is WBC and WBO 154-lb champion Sebastian Fundora. However, neither of those fights has little chance of happening. Ortiz Jr. could get the fight against IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Muratazaliev, but he’s not interested in fighting him for obvious reasons. It would be another punishing fight for Vergil Jr., and his chances of losing would be high.
“He put more punishment on him but also busted Ortiz up for it. Close but maybe Ortiz,” said coach Stephen Edwards to MillCity Boxing when asked who did more damage to Israil Madrimov between Terence Crawford and Vergil Ortiz Jr. “Before those fights, I would favor Crawford and [Jaron ‘Boots’] Ennis by a lot over Ortiz.”
Golden Boy Promotions will have to be inventive in what they want to do with Ortiz Jr. because he’s not going to get the fights he’s angling for against Crawford and Fundora. He’s not going to get Ennis either.
“After this fight [Madrimov], I think he’s [fVergil Jr.] improved and gotten better. He’s improved since the [Serhii] Bohachuk fight. He was a little more calmer. He wasn’t reaching. He was placing his shots a little bit better.
“He just had more poise in his approach. So, I think he’s a little closer to them [Ennis and Crawford] now. He’s only 26. So, he closed the gap, but I would still favor both of them over him. I favor Crawford and Ennis over Ortiz, but I think they’d be competitive fights.
“That fight got closer, too,” said Edwards when asked about a fight between Charles Conwell and Vergil Jr. “I’m a big fan of Conwell. I think he’s a really good fighter. It’s a shame that he hasn’t had opportunities earlier in his career because he’s been a pro for a minute [eight years since 2017].”
Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) would be an equally tough fight for Vergil Jr. than the last two that he just had, and he might have to hope the judges bail him out again as they did in his controversial 12-round majority decision win over Bohachuk.
“I love the way he fights. I love his calm pressure. He kind of reminds me of a fighter from my area named Dwight Muhammad Qawi,” said Edwards. “Ortiz has them fast hands and has the hand speed advantage over Conwell, and the judges, I hate to say it, are going to be on Ortiz’s side.
“I think it’s about 50-50, and I would expect a controversial decision. I can’t really pick a winner right now. It’s a tough fight to score,” said Edwards.
