Weekend Review: Are Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Jose Ramirez ready for prime time?
A critical look at the past week in boxing BIGGST WINNER Vergil Ortiz Jr. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P1AiqtOtRU The main thing that makes Ortiz compelling is his punching power. Twenty-one knockouts in 21 fights – a number of them against good opposition – is (...)
A critical look at the past week in boxing
BIGGST WINNER
Vergil Ortiz Jr.
The main thing that makes Ortiz compelling is his punching power. Twenty-one knockouts in 21 fights – a number of them against good opposition – is impressive.
Ortiz added to his reputation on the Jose Ramriez-Rances Barthelemy card Saturday in Fresno, California, where he stopped veteran Thomas Dulorme with a vicious body shot only 2 minutes, 39 seconds into their 154-pound fight.
It was his second consecutive first-round stoppage, following a KO at 2:33 against Fredrick Lawson in January.
And now it appears he’ll receive a significant reward: He’s set to face former titleholder Tim Tszyu on the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov card on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, by far the biggest fight of his career.
Indeed, things couldn’t be much better for the young slugger.
There are question marks, though.
The 26-year-old Texan fought only once in 2022 and sat on the sidelines all of last year because of health issues, including a battle with the painful, energy-sapping muscle condition rhabdomyolysis that forced him to cancel multiple fights.
And, again, while he’s healthy now, he will have fought less than two full rounds in two years when he faces Tszyu. Of course, he gets plenty of work in the gym. However, is a total of 5 minutes, 12 seconds in the ring enough to prepare him for the best in the business?
The son of Kostya Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) lost his perfect record and his belt to Sebastian Fundora by a split decision on March 30 but Tszyu was a blind man, the result of a deep cut that bled into his eyes.
A Tszyu at 100% is a stiffer challenge than either Lawson or Dulorme, at least on paper. And remember: Ortiz has fought only twice at 154, which could be an edge for Tszyu.
Ortiz has looked as formidable as ever in brief fights, his unquestioned punching power being at the center of his success. We’ll see whether that continues when, after a rough stretch for him, he finally faces an opponent who is at his level.
BIGGEST WINNER II
Jose Ramirez
Ramirez, a 140-pound contender, acknowledged after his unanimous decision victory over Barthelemy in their 12-round over-the-weight bout that his performance was far from perfect.
The former beltholder in the same division won by a large margin because of his work rate but he couldn’t get out of the way of Barthelemy’s potent left hand, which resulted in some harrowing moments and was a bad look for him.
He was fortunate to get out of the third round, when, after taking a hard left, he went down and was punched by Barthelemy repeatedly before he got up. The knockdown was ruled a push but he was clearly hurt, which sent him into survival mode the rest of the round.
He weathered the storm and controlled the rest of the fight to win a clear decision but, as he said, that wasn’t Ramirez at his best.
We should cut him some slack, however. He hadn’t been in the ring in 13 months before Saturday, which left him with rust. And he said he was distracted by fighting in front of his rabid, loud hometown fans, which happens.
That said, he’s going to have to demonstrate that he can be the same fighter he was before he lost his titles to Josh Taylor in 2021, one who can compete with 140-pound titleholders Teofimo Lopez, Isaac Cruz and Subriel Matias, as well as contenders like Gary Antuanne Russell (who stopped Barthelemy) and Richardson Hitchins.
I’d be willing to bet that the majority of those watching on Saturday night question whether Ramirez (29-1, 18 KOs) is at that level at the moment.
“A fight like that, you don’t look your best, you stay motivated in the gym and you become a different animal,” Ramirez said after the fight. “That’s what I want to do.”
His mind is obviously in the right place, which is a good sign for him.
RABBIT PUNCHES
Barthelemy (30-3-1, 15 KOs) showed his 38 years against Ramirez, particularly in the later rounds. The former amateur star and two-division titleholder from Cuba could still give almost anyone trouble with his ring IQ, however. We saw that on Saturday. I believe he will continue to fight even thought he has lost two of his last three outings. … Joseph Diaz Jr. (33-6-1, 15 KOs) scored a victory by simply making it to the ring to face Oscar Duarte on the Ramirez-Barthelemy card, having overcome personal demons to continue his career. However, the 31-year-old’s fifth loss in six fights – this time getting stopped for the first time – seems to indicate that he can no longer fight at an elite level. He said afterward that he isn’t finished, which is testament to his determination. If he doesn’t fight again, he has nothing to be ashamed of. He outpointed Tevin Farmer to win a major 130-pound title in his third try, his crowning achievement. And he has always handled himself with class both in public and in one-on-one situations. Duarte (27-2-1, 22 KOs) has regained momentum after his eight-round knockout loss against Ryan Garcia in December.