‘Next boxing superstar’ Vergil Ortiz Jr. to meet Serhii Bohachuk on Aug. 10

Jul 7, 2024 • 12:00 PM ET

Vergil

Promoter Oscar De La Hoya has confirmed that Vergil Ortiz Jr. will face Serhii Bohachuk on Aug. 10.

It’s a mouth-watering junior middleweight fight and will take place at the Michelob Arena in Las Vegas with Bohachuk’s WBC interim world title on the line.

Officials had been in talks a while ago to try to get the contest on the big Los Angeles bill headlined by Israil Madrimov-Terence Crawford on Aug. 3.

Ortiz was originally scheduled to appear on the show at BMO Stadium against Australian Tim Tszyu. But the damage Tszyu suffered to his head against Sebastian Fundora, caused by a stray elbow in their fight on March 30, was not healed in time for him to start training. So while organizers tried to save Ortiz’s spot against Bohachuk, that fight will now top the bill in Sin City a week later.

“That’s going to be a war, and for Vergil to become world champion at 154 and from there, the sky’s the limit,” De La Hoya told BoxingScene. “Vergil Ortiz is the next superstar in boxing.”

Lance Pugmire Profile

Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.

Tris Dixon Profile

Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.