Promoter Oscar De La Hoya wants his fighter, Vergil Ortiz Jr., to use nonstop pressure to defeat Israil Madrimov this Saturday, February 22nd. De La Hoya believes the best approach to beating former WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) is to “back him up” and attack his body.
That approach worked for the smaller, older, and weaker Terence Crawford to beat Madrimov last August in Los Angeles. Despite giving up size and power to Madrimov, the 37-year-old Crawford used pressure to wear him down to win a close 12-round unanimous decision on Turki Alalshikh’s card at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Crawford did absorb a lot of punishment, though, and it’s unclear whether Vergil Jr. can take the same kind of shots without getting knocked out or dropped two or three times.
Vergil Jr. was down twice in his last fight against WBC interim 154-lb champion Serhii Bohachuk on August 10th and was lucky to be given a 12-round majority decision. He didn’t look like he deserved the win, but the Nevada judges still gave it to him.
“I’m excited for my guy, Vergil and Madrimov. That’s probably going to steal the show if you like action and you like knockouts,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Golden Boy Boxing about Saturday night’s fight between WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Israil Madrimov.
De La Hoya is 100% correct in his prediction that Ortiz Jr.-Madrimov will steal the show. This one promises to have the most action out of all the fights on Saturday night’s card on DAZN PPV. The main event between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol will be a cat & mouse contest with much running and chasing. That won’t be as entertaining as the Ortiz Jr. vs. Madrimov battle. Turki should have stowed the Beterbiev-Bivol 2 rematch below decks on the undercard somewhere rather than making that fight the headliner.
“How do you see Vergil Ortiz? We know he brings the pressure, the volume, and the power, but Madrimov is brilliant,” said Sergio Mora. “How is he going to land those heavy hands on a guy that is hard to hit like Madrimov?”
Vergil only has one option in this fight: He’s got to stick with his usual style of fighting by coming forward, applying pressure, and hoping that approach works against Madrimov. He’s not a good enough boxer to outbox a technical fighter like Madrimov, and he would be foolish to try.
Words from De La Hoya
“I look at Madrimov and Crawford. Madrimov was doing something that was confusing Crawford. He was on his toes, moving side to side and giving him angles,” said De La Hoya. “Obviously, Vergil Ortiz’s camp is well aware of that. They’ve prepared for a Madrimov that is going to box and move but also is going to come forward and bang.
“So what does Vergil do? I would push him back if I were in Vergil’s shoes because Madrimov cannot fight going backwards. So, I would push him back and just relentless [pressure]. One thing about Madrimov is that when he fights, he fights with his guard up. What’s up is the body, and Vergil to the body is relentless,” said De La Hoya.
Last Updated on 02/21/2025