Robert Garcia: Vergil Ortiz Already Has Sights Set on New Opponent
May 31, 2024 • 8:55 PM ET
Turning quickly from the withdrawal of scheduled opponent Tim Tszyu, Vergil Ortiz Jr., according to trainer Robert Garcia, is already scouting footage of an ideal replacement opponent:
Serhii Bohachuk.
Garcia says the appeal of Bohachuk is that he wears the WBC interim junior middleweight belt and a victory would propel Ortiz toward the winner of October's WBC junior middleweight championship fight between new titleholder Sebastian Fundora and former welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.
Both Spence and Ortiz hail from Texas.
"Can you imagine what Vergil and Errol fighting in Cowboys Stadium [AT&T Stadium] would do?" Garcia asked.
Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs), from Ukraine, earned his interim belt with a wide decision over Brian Mendoza in May. Mendoza became Bohachuk's opponent when the latter's originally scheduled opponent, Fundora, was bumped up to replace an injured Keith Thurman against Tszyu.
After Tszyu suffered a grisly head cut early in their fight, Fundora proceeded to a surprising split decision victory and collected Tszyu's WBC and WBO junior middleweight belts.
Bohachuk promoter Tom Loeffler has also expressed enthusiasm about Bohachuk fighting Ortiz on Aug. 3.
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, stated Friday on his social media account that he plans to soon announce "an upgraded opponent for Ortiz."
Earlier Friday, Ortiz (21-0, 21 KO), through a social media exchange, sparked speculation about a matchup with Golden Boy promotional teammate Ryan Garcia, who expressed interest in replacing Tszyu in the stacked Aug. 3 card in Los Angeles.
But Robert Garcia doubts that an Ortiz-Ryan Garcia fight could happen given that Ryan Garcia is undergoing scrutiny from the New York State Athletic Commission after testing positive for the banned substance ostarine following his April victory over WBC lightweight titleholder Devin Haney.
"Ryan has to go through all that stuff with the tests," Robert Garcia said.
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.
