A stacked slate of boxing continued with a tight bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, with Vergil Ortiz Jr. getting the comeback over Israil Madrimov to retain the WBC interim super welterweight title. After a draw following 12 rounds of close fighting, Ortiz Jr. won via a unanimous decision, 115-113, 115-113, 117-111, over Madrimov.
Early on, Madrimov controlled the pace, picking up the first three rounds. But Ortiz started to fight back, taking the next three to tie things up, 57-57, at the halfway point.
Madrimov began to pull away again, connecting several blows and forcing Ortiz to slow down. Finally, Ortiz made headway in the ninth round, getting through Madrimov to get a handful of well-placed hits to turn up the pressure. Ortiz continued to sustain that energy, even as Madrimov gave Round 10 a little bit of juice towards the end, but it was Ortiz who was regaining control.
But Madrimov didn’t back down, taking the next round with a burst of hits. Madrimov’s second wind appear to sustain through the final round, as the two exchanged blows, but Ortiz pulled off a massive uppercut and a key right hit to take the narrow win.
With the score at a 114-114 draw, the result of the close bout was up to the judges, who awarded Ortiz the win and gave the 26-year-old American victory in one of the biggest moments of his career.
With the triumph, Ortiz will hold on to his interim super welterweight title, which he captured in December after defeating Serhii Bohachuk. Ortiz won the title by majority decision (113-113, 114-112, and 114-112), with a relentless and thrilling Round 8 making the matchup an instant classic.
Ortiz had the slight advantage heading into Saturday, but there was no doubt that Madrimov was going to put up a fight. Prior to Saturday’s bout, Madrimov was coming off a gritty loss to Terence Crawford, who currently holds several titles. Even in the loss, Madrimov exceeded expectations and showed his skill when fighting Crawford, and did so again against Ortiz.
Ortiz is now 23-0, with 21 knockouts. Madrimov, meanwhile, holds a 10–2–1 record after dropping his second close matchup in a row.
Check out full results, highlights and Uncrowned’s round-by-round coverage for Saturday’s stacked Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 fight card here.
Read the full article here