In the biggest fight of his young and recently injury-riddled career, Vergil Ortiz Jr. had the answer to just about every question that could’ve been asked of him.
Despite absorbing a pair of flash knockdowns before rallying in the championship rounds, Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs) narrowly edged a determined Serhii Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KOs) to capture the WBC interim title at 154 pounds by majority decision on Saturday at the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Two judges saw the fight 114-112 for Ortiz while the third had it 113-113. CBS Sports scored it 114-113 for Ortiz.
Not only did the pair of exciting junior middleweights deliver constant two-way action in the center of the ring that should give Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury a run for its money in the fight of the year voting, it was the constant adjustments and incredible recuperative abilities shown by both that helped the 12-round bout achieve the status of instant classic.
“I felt like I did enough,” Ortiz said. “I proved everyone wrong who said that I’m washed, I can’t go to 154 pounds and I can’t go the distance or can’t fight past Round 9. I read all of those comments and all that of fueled me. I’m the best in the world right now and I’m going to keep showing it.”
Ortiz, a 26-year-old native of Dallas, returned to the ring for a pair of comeback knockouts to open 2024 after being idle for nearly two years due to injury and illness. But after landing the bigger punches throughout and leaning on everything from his gas tank to his recuperative skills to violently outmaneuver the equally iron-chinned Bohachuk, Ortiz admitted that his critics lifted him to success.
“As much as I want to say that people’s opinions don’t matter, they do,” Ortiz said. “I fight for the fans and it’s electrifying to hear the crowd watch me fight. I take people’s opinions into consideration but, at the end of the day, I just go out there and work hard.”
Despite attempting more punches over 12 rounds, Bohachuk was outlanded by a margin of 265 to 225, according to CompuBox. Ortiz also connected on 43% of his power shots and held a huge advantage (101 to 32) in body shots landed.
But in an incredibly close fight where each point mattered, Bohachuk made a strong case for the decision behind his pair of knockdowns.
Ortiz hit the canvas in Round 1 when a grazing right hand struck him on the ear. Initially, it was ruled a slip by referee Harvey Dock before the California State Athletics Commission, which has the ability to use instant replay, retroactively ruled it a knockdown midway through the fight.
“I don’t think those should have been knockdowns,” Ortiz said. “The second one, for sure. But the first one, I felt I hit his foot or some shit but I make no excuses.”
Bohachuk, a 29-year-old native of Ukraine, relied on his jab and a sneaky right uppercut to make a surge in the middle rounds that was punctuated by a knockdown in Round 8 on a short left hook. But Ortiz immediately rose to his feet and rallied back to hurt Bohachuk with a right hand in what will likely be remembered as a strong round of the year contender.
All three judges scored 10-8 rounds for Bohachuk in the two rounds he landed knockdowns. But it was judges Steve Weisfeld and Max DeLuca, each of whom scored eight of 12 rounds for Ortiz, that both gave the Mexican-American slugger the final four rounds to claim a close decision.
“I can say that the people who understand boxing watching this fight, they know what happened today,” Bohachuk said. “I am feeling great. I’m happy with the way I fought. I feel like I won. I had two knockdowns, I mean, come on guys?”
Ortiz overcame tiny cuts on his nose and below his right eye to hurt Bohachuk in each of the final two rounds. But despite absorbing tremendous punishment, Bohachuk never left his feet.
The victory could lift Ortiz into a showdown with unbeaten Terence Crawford, who captured the WBO title at 154 pounds last week by edging out Israil Madrimov. It’s a fight that Turki Alalshkih and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who sponsored Saturday’s Golden Boy fight card and has invested huge amounts of money into the sport, seem eager to make.
“Let’s do it, man. I’m ready for a challenge,” Ortiz said. “I think Bud is probably No. 1 pound-for-pound in the world and I want to show that I have what it takes to beat him.”
