Vergil Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) overcame two knockdowns and being hurt several times to win a controversial twelve-round majority decision over WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KOs) on Saturday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Ortiz Jr., 26, was dropped in rounds one and eight by big shots from Bohachuk. Cut over his left eye and nose bleeding, Vergil boxed in the championship rounds to get the decision.
The scores were 113-113, 114-112 and 114-112.
I had it for Bobachuk 8-4. He hurt Vergil many times in the fight, and that should have been enough to get the decision, but not with the Nevada judges.
Undercard results:
– Charles Conwell (20-0, 15 KOs) destroyed veteran Khiary Gray (18-7, 13 KOs) by a second-round knockout in junior middleweight action in a scheduled ten-round fight.
The 154-lb contender Conwell nailed Gray, 31, with two left hooks to the body that put him down on the canvas. Gray was too hurt to get back to his feet. The contest was then halted.
Gray hadn’t done much before the fight ended, aside from taking shots from the 26-year-old Conwell. It was another showcase fight for him.
Hopefully, Golden Boy will start matching Conwell up against quality opponents soon because these kinds of mismatches don’t help him.
– Light welterweight contender Kenneth Sims (21-2-1, 7 KOs) defeated former IBF super bantamweight champion Jonathan Romero (35-5, 19 KOs) by a fifth-round stoppage. It was mostly target practice for Sims, 30, who unloaded at will against the 37-year-old Romero.
Despite the mostly one-sided fight, the tough Colombian Romero was lighting the easy-to-hit Sims up with speedy combinations, taking advantage of his aggressiveness.
Sims hurt Romerto with body shots in the third and wore him down with shots in the fourth round. Romero’s corner wanted to stop the fight after round four, but he wanted to continue. After the fifth, the fight was finally stopped.
– IBF Flyweight World Champion Gabriela Fundora (14-0, 6 KOs) won a lopsided ten-round unanimous decision over Challenger Daniela Asenjo (16-4-3, 2 KOs). The scores were 100-90, 100-90, and 100-90.
The tall 5’9″ Fundora took advantage of her huge height and reach advantage to pound away with hooks, jabs, and uppercuts the entire fight. Asenjo,33, couldn’t do much due to her limited height.
When she was on the outside, Fundora nailed her at will with long shots. Asenjo’s success was limited to when she would charge forward, throwing wild punches but occasionally catching Fundora. She could have taken advantage of Fundora’s aggressive style if she had more power.
In the ninth, Fundora went for the knockout, flurrying with shots but missing many of them.
– Welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte (4-0, 4 KOs) made quick work of Miguel Ortiz (3-2, 1 KO), knocking him out in the first round. Iriate hurt Ortiz with a long left hook to the head, causing him to fall against the ropes. Iriate followed up with a barrage of punches, prompting the referee, Michel Ortega, to wave it off. The time of the stoppage was at 2:15 of round one.
