Fighter of the Week (4/22-4/28): Vergil Ortiz
Grand Prairie, Texas native and undefeated junior middleweight KO artist Vergil Ortiz had fought just over two minutes over the last 20 months. Back in January, he destroyed Fredrick Lawson in 2:33. Saturday against Thomas Dulorme was supposed to be a much steeper test, a former world title challenger. Dulorme was supposed to be a bit more durable and last longer than Lawson did, and that's technically true. Dulorme lasted 2:39. Six seconds longer than Lawson. Ortiz moved his record to 21-0 (21), got a little more ring rust off, captured our Fighter of the Week Award, and set himself up nicely for the biggest fight of his career, A non-title showdown with Tim Tszyu which is scheduled for August 3rd and has Fight of the Year in the making written all over it.
The 26-year-old Ortiz stepped in the ring with his next step already signed an August date with Thomas Dulorme, all he had to do was get past Dulorme. That's exactly what the 26-year-old KO sensation did. A single left hook to the body with about 2:30 minutes did the trick. The shot sent a shock through the body of the former world title challenger and crumbled him like a ball rolling around the canvas trying to make it to his feet. He was unable to do so, and the hotshot Texan ran his KO streak at 21. Ortiz has stopped all 21 of his opponents. he has stopped his last two opponents in the first round and the eighth first-round stoppage of his promising career. After the fight Ortiz politely called out Tszyu and said ""Hey Tim, man, I know you're watching this fight right now," Ortiz said live on DAZN. "I'm ready for you, man. We're ready."
The North Texas native has his roadmap ahead of him. Next stop up is former world champion Tim Tszyu in what promises to be an all-action war. Tszyu lost his belt to Sebastian Fundora after fighting through a vicious headbutt he suffered early on in the fight. He fought valiantly but was damaged from the headbutt. After that, he likely gets his fight with the winner of Terence Crawford or Israil Madrimov, who will square up against each other on the same card for the WBA world title and the WBO interim title. The two winners will likely square off, and Ortiz, who just turned 26, is peaking, and Crawford is a full decade older than Ortiz, meaning if the two face off in 2025, the timing might be on the side of Ortiz and Crawford could realistically be on the downside.
