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Promoter Oscar De La Hoya needs his fighter, Vergil Ortiz Jr., to make use of nonstop strain to defeat Israil Madrimov this Saturday, February twenty second. De La Hoya believes the very best method to beating former WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) is to “back him up” and assault his physique.
That method labored for the smaller, older, and weaker Terence Crawford to beat Madrimov final August in Los Angeles. Regardless of giving up dimension and energy to Madrimov, the 37-year-old Crawford used strain to put on him right down to win an in depth 12-round unanimous resolution on Turki Alalshikh’s card on the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Crawford did soak up a variety of punishment, although, and it’s unclear whether or not Vergil Jr. can take the identical form of pictures with out getting knocked out or dropped two or 3 times.
Vergil Jr. was down twice in his final combat towards WBC interim 154-lb champion Serhii Bohachuk on August tenth and was fortunate to be given a 12-round majority resolution. He didn’t seem like he deserved the win, however the Nevada judges nonetheless 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,” mentioned Oscar De La Hoya to Golden Boy Boxing about Saturday evening’s combat between WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Israil Madrimov.
De La Hoya is 100% right in his prediction that Ortiz Jr.-Madrimov will steal the present. This one guarantees to have probably the most motion out of all of the fights on Saturday evening’s card on DAZN PPV. The primary occasion between undisputed gentle heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol will likely be a cat & mouse contest with a lot operating and chasing. That received’t be as entertaining because the Ortiz Jr. vs. Madrimov battle. Turki ought to have stowed the Beterbiev-Bivol 2 rematch beneath decks on the undercard someplace relatively than making that combat the headliner.
“How do you see Vergil Ortiz? We know he brings the pressure, the volume, and the power, but Madrimov is brilliant,” mentioned Sergio Mora. “How is he going to land those heavy hands on a guy that is hard to hit like Madrimov?”
Vergil solely has one choice on this combat: He’s received to stay together with his standard model of combating by coming ahead, making use of strain, and hoping that method works towards Madrimov. He’s not a adequate boxer to outbox a technical fighter like Madrimov, and he can be silly to attempt.
Phrases 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,” mentioned De La Hoya. “Clearly, Vergil Ortiz’s camp is properly conscious of that. They’ve ready for a Madrimov that’s going to field and transfer but additionally goes to come back ahead 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,” mentioned De La Hoya.
