Fireworks are guaranteed when interim WBC junior middleweight titleholder Serhii ‘El Flaco’ Bohachuk 24-1 (23) defends his secondary belt against undefeated knockout artist Vergil Ortiz Jr 21-0 (21) at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
With a combined knockout ratio of almost 96%, the short money is on this bout not going the distance.
“Big fight coming up. I’m ready for this fight. I hope Vergil is ready too. This Saturday will be hard, come and see,” said Bohachuk, who outpointed Brian Mendoza over 12 frames in his last bout in March to claim the interim strap.
Bohachuk’s trainer Manny Robles was full of nothing but praise for his fighter for agreeing to take on one of the most dangerous punchers in the sport.
“Serhii Bohachuk could have taken an easy route and could have picked an easier opponent, but instead, he chose to fight Vergil Ortiz, and that just goes to show you what kind of fighter Serhii Bohachuk is,” said Robles.
“He is not afraid of a tough fight. You know, fighting one of the best fighters in the world as we know, an up-and-coming star in Vergil. This has the makings to be the fight of the year, it’s going to be great.”
The 29-year-old Bohachuk, from Ukraine, is more seasoned than Ortiz, but the 26-year-old Texan believes now is his time to shine.
“First and foremost, I want to thank everyone on my team, my dad, Robert, Hector Beltran, Charles, Pita, everyone at the gym supporting me, everyone back home in Grand Prairie, Texas,” said Ortiz.
“I just feel like boxing is what I was made for. We put in all this hard work, it all goes back from that day after kindergarten till now. This Saturday, I will be a world champion.”
Across the ring from Robles will be another gun trainer in Robert Garcia.
“It’s not just about us, the trainers. It’s about the whole team working together and supporting each other and helping each other out,” coach Garcia said.
“We’re happy to be here, Oscar, you know this, we’ve been here many times in huge fights. Saturday night, Vergil will become champion of the world. He’s ready, he’s ready to do it, and this is just the beginning of many, many more titles.”
Promoter Oscar De La Hoya warned against leaving the room once the first bell rings to start the fight.
“In total, these two guys have 45 fights between them. They have ended 44 of them by knockout. This is a guaranteed, action-packed barnburner,” the chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions said.
“Vergil Ortiz Jr is the next superstar of boxing. He simply has every tool at his disposal – speed, power and a killer instinct that you can’t teach.
“Serhii Bohachuk has incredible power and simply does not take a step back. Of his 24 victories, 23 have come within the distance, and in his only fight that did see the final bell, Serhii handily beat Brian Mendoza.
“Golden Boy is also putting on an incredible undercard featuring debuts, rising prospects and contenders on the cusp of world championship fights. You won’t want to miss this!”
Tom Loeffler, managing director of 360 Promotions, said: “This is a tremendous, tremendous fight. Fireworks guaranteed. Probably the best fight on TV that we’ve seen in a long time. There’s not going to be any slow starts here.”
