Junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz Jr 22-0 (21) went the distance for the first time in his career when he defeated Serhii Bohachuk 24-2 (23) by majority decision Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
But he didn’t have it all his own way.
The 26-year-old Texan had to twice climb off the canvas – once in the first round and again in the eighth – to win the drama-filled contest by scores of 113-113, 114-112 and 114-112.
Bohacuk scored a knockdown in the first round that was originally ruled a slip, but overturned by replay at the beginning for the fifth round. Bohachuk knocked Ortiz down again in the eighth round, but Ortiz stormed back in the round to hurt Bohachuk.
The bout was fought at a frenetic pace, with lots of ebbs and flows. You could make a case for either boxer deserving the win.
CompuBox stats had the combatants throwing a total of 1,579 punches. Bohachuk threw 85 more punches, but Ortiz landed 40 more punches.
It was an impressive performance from both boxers no matter which way you scored it.
Former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu 24-1 (17) was originally slated to face Ortiz, but the he was forced to withdraw from the bout after a nasty cut to his scalp suffered in his loss to Sebastian Fundora in March had not healed sufficiently to allow him to spar.
The 29-year-old Australian welcomed Ortiz to the 154-pound weight class.
“I think 7-5 Ortiz, but with the two knockdowns, it could be either even or Bohachuk in front. It’s boxing. You never know,” said Tszyu to Fight Hub TV.
“That was crowd-pleasing, for sure. It was a cracking fight. These two are warriors. They put on a proper show. This was his first proper fight at 154. It’s a different club at 154.”
Ex-boxer turned trainer Jeff Mayweather believes Ukraine’s Bohachuk, 29, deserved the nod.
“He’s a good fighter, but I don’t think he really won tonight,” said Mayweather on his YouTube channel. “Two knockdowns, you’re already down four points. The other guy won more than three rounds.
“I don’t believe in 10-9. I believe in 10-8. Anytime there’s a knockdown, you get two points. It’s automatically 10-8.”
The junior middleweight division is suddenly red-hot with the recent addition of Ortiz and former two-weight undisputed champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 41-0 (31), who defeated Israil Madrimov 10-1-1 (7) earlier this month. Add in WBO champion Fundora 21-1-1 (13) IBF counterpart Bakhram Murtazaliev 22-0 (16), Tszyu and Bohachuk, and you could pair up anyone in the group and be promised a compelling fight.
Even though Ortiz got the nod against Bohachuk, Mayweather believes he still needs to further improve to match with with the elite of the division.
“I don’t think [Ortiz is] ready for Terence Crawford,” he said. “He’s a guy who has been built up with all these knockouts. Nobody really knows how good the fighters he fought. Tonight, he had a real fighter in front of him and it showed.”
