44 knockout wins in 46 combined bouts. Both look to make a splash on the world championship scene come Aug. 10 at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay, a week after now-former undisputed welterweight king Terence Crawford goes for more greatness in a fourth weight division vs. WBA titleholder Israil Madrimov. Tim Tszyu might now be a spectator, but who said the 154lb division was dead?
Bohachuk gets summer showdown against an old friend
Serhii Bohachuk (c) vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr, winner mandatory for Fundora’s title
WBC interim light-middleweight world title fight
August 10, live from Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino
- High praise! “Vergil’s time is now, he’s extra-special and we knew we had a generational talent from the moment we saw him as an amateur. I strongly feel he can become the sport’s next superstar. It’s going to be an incredible night for him,” Ortiz’s promoter Oscar de la Hoya said after announcing a multi-year contract extension with the 26-year-old on Thursday
- Ortiz, who described Bohachuk as a co-worker when both trained under Manny Robles and sparred, said: “Our fighting styles complement each other, for sure. It’s going to be a good one, we’re pretty familiar.”
- Bohachuk is under no illusions about what’s coming: “It’s not going to be a fight, it’ll be a war, a big chance to represent Ukraine in Las Vegas and put on a big show. You learn in sparring, but a fight is very different.”
SEBASTIAN Fundora vs. Errol Spence Jr is all-but-done as far as announcements are concerned for a November date, while multiple moving pieces continue to shift the landscape in an ever-changing hierarchy atop a division without an undisputed ruler.
If His Excellency Turki Alalshikh gets his way, that might not be the case for long and given how he has brokered much-needed clarity across heavyweight and light-heavy divisions over the past twelve months, it’s not too far away from materialising.
With nearly 50 sparring rounds banked between the pair when they were a weight division apart previously, they’ll now box for the WBC interim light-middleweight world title on August 10 in a busy month as far as the 154lb division is concerned.
Ortiz Jr was originally slated to feature against now-former WBO world champion Tim Tszyu in an exciting firefight on a stacked Los Angeles-based Riyadh Season card headlined by Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov the weekend prior.
Tszyu, who suffered his first pro defeat via split decision by Sebastian Fundora in March, somehow boxed on for ten subsequent rounds – nasty head injury oozing blood – after a clash of heads as that sequence drastically turned the tide against a short-notice title challenger replacing former unified champ Keith Thurman.
However, the game Aussie wasn’t cleared by doctors to continue his training camp with the cut not healing enough to finish the final stages of preparation.
Into the breach steps Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs), who efficiently pressed-and-probed en route to a career-best victory over the durable Brian Mendoza earlier that same night in March during his first 12-round contest.
Ortiz Jr hasn’t yet completed a 12-round bout himself, Portsmouth’s Michael McKinson deceptively proved his trickiest test through 21 fights, with lingering illness and injury meaning he’s only boxed twice in the two subsequent years since – a pair of first-round knockouts vs. Frederick Lawson and Thomas Dulorme.
This interim world title bout will answer questions as neither is perfect: Bohachuk isn’t afraid to wade into danger while Ortiz may be unbeaten but is untested at a new weight, having been on the cusp of these career-altering fights at 147lbs prior.
Is Serhii as good as his coach Manny Robles insists? Can Ortiz produce a career-best display on his biggest showcase yet to enhance his world title credentials?
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via BoxingScene
Mo and Sports 