Tag Archives: Samuel Vargas

Vergil Ortiz Jr. Cleared to Fight Eimantas Stanionis in July

Posted on by
Reply

Vergil Ortiz Jr. is cleared to fight…

The 25-year-old Mexican-American boxer will return on July 8 to fight Eimantas Stanionis now that he’s recovered from rhabdomyolysis and discovered it was caused by long COVID.

Vergil Ortiz Jr.The 147-pound contest — Ortiz’s fourth consecutive in his native Texas — pits top-10 welterweights with plenty of power (Ortiz is No. 3 in ESPN’s rankings; Stanionis is No. 6.)

The fight has already been postponed twice. It was set for March 18 before Stanionis, 28, underwent an emergency appendectomy in January in Lithuania. A second postponement came when Ortiz, 25, dealt with a recurrence of rhabdomyolysis, pushing the fight from its April 29 date.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, rhabdomyolysis occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases its proteins and electrolytes into the blood. These substances can damage the heart and kidneys and cause permanent disability or even death.

Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs) said he was fully cleared last month after being treated by Dr. Juan Bautista in Fresno, California, who diagnosed him with long COVID following a battery of tests.

“I actually had a hunch that that’s what it was, but I didn’t know too much about it — I’m not a doctor,” Ortiz said. ” … I’ve never felt this good in a good maybe three or four years. … I’m still training hard … that was never the problem. … I’m noticing that I’m not huffing and puffing and I just feel great overall. … I can’t explain how good I feel compared to how I was.”

Ortiz, who received two shots of the Moderna vaccine, said he first contracted COVID during training camp for his July 2020 fight with Samuel Vargas, whom he knocked out in Round 6.

“I could not breathe,” Ortiz said. “I was struggling to keep my composure during that interview right after the fight, man. But I could not breathe at all, and it just kept getting worse after that fight.”

He was sick with COVID again ahead of his next outing, a seventh-round KO of Maurice Hooker in March 2021. After the fight, Ortiz’s father and trainer, Vergil Ortiz Sr., said his son’s skin turned red.

“I wanted to call [the fight] off, and he didn’t want to call it off,” Ortiz Sr. said. “He pretty much begged with me, and he promised me that he would beat this guy and not to call it off. So, what do you tell your boy who’s training through COVID and looking drunk and dizzy because he’s so sick. … I could see it in his body and his muscles … it was attacking his muscles.”

Ortiz contracted COVID a third time afterward, and in March 2022, was forced to withdraw from a fight vs. Michael McKinson after he was hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis.

Ortiz went on to score a ninth-round TKO of McKinson in August and hasn’t competed since. During that time away from the ring, Ortiz heard the claims on social media that his condition was because he overtrained or simply couldn’t make 147 pounds anymore.

“It can be mentally draining sometimes, I’m not going to lie,” Ortiz said. “It’s very frustrating sometimes … when they’re speaking on something that they don’t know, but I mean, that’s just how life is. And luckily, I try to keep a positive mentality and just try to ignore all the buzz and noise outside and just focus on myself.”

Ortiz Sr. said it was difficult to know it was COVID because his son was nearly lapping the other fighters on their 5-mile runs. “He’s so used to pushing through it,” Ortiz Sr. said.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. Stops Samuel Vargas by TKO in Seventh Round

Posted on by
Reply

Vergil Ortiz Jr. is proving he’s a real contender…

The 22-year-old Mexican American boxer dominated and ultimately stopped Samuel Vargas in the seventh round in the main event of a DAZN card on Friday night at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

Vergil Ortiz Jr.,

With the victory, Ortiz (16-0, 16 KO) has taken another step toward becoming a welterweight contender. He demonstrated a complete skill set and proved he’s more than just a one-dimensional slugger.

“I hit him to the body a lot. I don’t know how he didn’t go down. He was hurt the entire time — I asked him,” Ortiz said. “I knew it was time to take him out. If it went to eight rounds, he would have been hurt worse.”

From the beginning, Ortiz took control of the fight behind his powerful left jab, bloodying Vargas’ nose. Ortiz began to layer his attack with quick right hands over the top that stunned Vargas in the third.

Then in the fourth, Vargas (31-6-2, 14 KOs) was hurt by a series of quick punches that seemed to come in all directions as Ortiz appeared to look for an early finish. Vargas survived the attack, but the punishment he absorbed was such that referee Jack Reiss called the ringside physician to look over him at the end of the third.

Vargas did his best to stay active in the next couple of rounds, throwing shots on the inside, but most of his punches were blocked by the tight guard of Ortiz.

In the seventh round, Vargas was stung by another steady, two-fisted barrage from Ortiz. If it wasn’t right hands, it was left hooks or right uppercuts that seemed to hurt Vargas. They came at a more rapid pace as the round went on.

All the while, Ortiz’s laser-like jab had been snapping back Vargas’ head throughout the night.

As Vargas took a steady pounding, Reiss mercifully waved things off 2 minutes, 58 seconds into the seventh.

It was a big win for Ortiz. Vargas is an experienced pro fighter who previously had been stopped only twice, by unified welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jr. and two-division titlist Danny Garcia.

Ortiz said he would grade his performance against Vargas a B-plus.

“He brought it out of me — hardest opponent to date,” Ortiz said. “My hands took a beating punching him the whole time, so when they’re healed, I’ll be back.”

Ortiz said he’d like a step up in competition, naming Garcia and former welterweight titlist Keith Thurman as opponents he’d like to fight next.

“They’re good opponents I can beat,” Ortiz said. “I want to take risks. I’m not here to take easy fights. I’m in the hardest division in boxing, so when I win a title, it will mean a lot more.”

Vergil Ortiz Officially Set to Fight Samuel Vargas in Golden Boy’s First Post-Coronavirus Fight Card

Posted on by
Reply

Vergil Ortiz is officially ready to rumble…

As previously expected, the 22-year-old highly regarded Mexican American welterweight will face veteran Samuel Vargas on July 24 in Golden Boy‘s first fight card since the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to boxing events across the world in mid-March.

Vergil Ortiz Jr.

The card will take place at the Fantasy Springs Casino Resortin Indio, California.

“We’re just excited, happy to be back with our fighters,” said Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions. 

“Especially a guy like Vergil who was scheduled to fight before the shutdown. He was 10 days out from fighting, so I’m just happy he gets to fight again, and we’re back at it.”

For the time being, Golden Boy’s cards in California will be held without an audience.

Ortiz (15-0, 15 KOs) is considered one of boxing’s best young fighters. The Grand Prairie, Texas native has stopped everyone he has faced thus far as a professional. In 2019, Ortiz stopped Mauricio Herrera in three rounds, and then Antonio Orozco in six.

Ortiz and Vargas were originally scheduled to clash on March 28 at The Forumin Inglewood, California, before that card was canceled.

“I’m very thankful and excited to be headlining the first Golden Boy event after the quarantine,” said Ortiz, who has been training with Robert Garcia in Riverside for the past few weeks. “I’m happy that it’s still with the same opponent, so basically we’re picking up where we left off. It’s going to be a tough fight, and it’ll be a great way to kick off the year for me.”

Ortiz is facing a seasoned veteran in Vargas (31-5-2, 14 KOs), who has faced Amir Khan, Luis Collazo, Danny Garcia and Errol Spence over the course of his career.

“I think that everything happens for a reason,” said Vargas, who has been in Las Vegas in recent weeks, preparing for this bout. “I think this time off benefited me. I’m ready to upset the world. I believe I can come out with the win. The world is a weird place right now. The show will be different. There will be no fans, but I have no doubt I’m going to win.”

As Golden Boy officials began to put this card together, they found a rather limited pool of options to draw from, in terms of selecting boxers.

“There’s a lot of guys that just weren’t ready,” Gomez said. “They hadn’t been to the gym because [gyms] were closed, they didn’t train, do road work, sparring or anything. Now it’s a little better, but we’re not in the clear yet.”

The co-feature scheduled for July 24 is a 10-round lightweight contest between Hector Tanajara (19-0, 5 KOs) and Mercito Gesta (32-3-3, 17 KOs). Other fights include an eight-round middleweight bout between Shane Mosley Jr. (15-3, 9 KOs) and Jeremy Ramos (11-8, 2 KOs), a women’s junior flyweight fight between Seniesa Estrada (18-0, 7 KOs) and Jacky Calvo(12-5-2, 1 KO), and a clash between prospects Hector Valdez and Evan Sanchez.

There’s no indication when spectators will be allowed back into any sporting events, and from Golden Boy’s perspective, the hope at this point is just to try to get the first few cards off the ground smoothly.

“It’s hard to say. It’s scary. You’ve seen the numbers, they’ve been rising again,” Gomez said. “There have been surges in Florida, here in California. I don’t know what the governor is going to decide. I just hope we don’t get shut down again.”