Vergil Ortiz Jr. Could Still Fight in L.A. on Aug. 3
Jun 6, 2024 • 2:15 PM ET
Golden Boy Promotions has not given up on the idea of Vergil Ortiz Jr. boxing on its Aug. 3 bill in Los Angeles.
Ortiz, the 21-0 (21 KOs) junior middleweight from Texas, had been due to face Australia’s Tim Tszyu in an eagerly awaited clash, but the damage Tszyu suffered on his head from his March 30 fight with Sebastian Fundora has ruled him out.
The LA at the BMO Stadium card was announced on Wednesday, and is topped by Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov, and features heavyweight contests between Andy Ruiz and Jarrell Miller and Martin Bakole and Jared Anderson.
There are also appearances for David Morrell and Andy Cruz, and the WBA junior-welterweight champion Isaac Cruz defends his title against Jose Valenzuela.
Golden Boy’s Eric Gomez still has hopes that Ortiz might be able to still take his spot on the show.
“We’re working on a suitable opponent, someone who, when you lose a Tszyu it’s hard to get an opponent at that level, but there’s a few guys there we’re looking at,” Gomez said.
“We’re trying to repair the fight right now, we’re working with Sela Sports, the group out of Saudi Arabia, and we’re working to repair the fight and we’re also talking about potentially postponing the fight with Tszyu until he gets better.
“There’s a lot of different things we’re working on.
“They announced it [the show] yesterday, but they said that if we find the right opponent, a suitable guy, which we’re working on now, that they will consider putting him on.”
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.
