Vergil Ortiz Jr. (born March 25, 1998) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He has held the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC) interim

super welterweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in boxing but also may include other combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF o ...

title since 2024. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, he was a seven-time national champion and won the 110 pounds category at the USA's Junior Olympic National Championships in 2013. He was named the 2019 Prospect of the Year by ''

The Ring The Ring may refer to: Arts and entertainment *The Ring (franchise), ''The Ring'' (franchise), a Japanese horror media franchise Literature * ''The Ring'', a 1967 novel by Richard Chopping * ''The Ring'', a 1988 book by Daniel Keys Moran * ''The R ...

'' magazine. Ortiz is known for his exceptional punching power, having scored all but two of his wins by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

Professional career

Early career

Ortiz was victorious in his first six fights, winning all six by stoppage and only going past the first round in one of the six fights.

Ortiz Jr vs. Valenzuela

His seventh bout came on September 16, 2017, on the undercard of Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin I against Cesar Valenzuela, which he won by second-round technical knockout.

Ortiz Jr vs. Ortiz

After improving to 11-0, Ortiz appeared a year later on the undercard of Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin II to face

Roberto Ortiz Roberto Ortiz may refer to: *Roberto María Ortiz (1886–1942), President of Argentina from 1938 to 1942 *Roberto Ortiz (baseball) (1915–1971), Cuban baseball player *Roberto Ortiz (umpire) (born 1984), Puerto Rican baseball umpire *Roberto Orti ...

. Vergil Ortiz knocked down his opponent with a right hand early in the second round. Roberto got up, but he was still hurt. Vergil attacked him immediately and knocked him down again with a right hand that sent his opponent to one knee. Roberto Ortiz reached his feet again, but the referee deemed him unfit to continue, calling off the fight.

Rise up the ranks

Ortiz Jr vs. Orozco

Ortiz, who now had an unblemished record of 13-0, defeated

Antonio Orozco Antonio Orozco (born 23 November 1972 in Barcelona) is a Spanish singer-songwriter. He has won several prizes like the Premio Ondas and sold many records; his first album sold more than 100,000 copies, whereas his second album titled ''Semilla d ...

by sixth-round technical knockout to win the vacant WBA Gold welterweight title on August 10, 2019, at

The Theatre at Grand Prairie Texas Trust CU Theatre is an American concert hall located in Grand Prairie, Texas, west of Dallas and east of Fort Worth. It is near Lone Star Park and Grand Prairie Stadium. The theatre is currently operated by AEG and owned by the City of G ...

, Texas. He defended the title in his next fight against Brad Solomon on December 13, 2019, in

Indio Indio may refer to: Places * Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England * Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States People with the name * Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson * Índi ...

, California, winning by fifth-round knockout.

Ortiz Jr vs. Vargas

Ortiz was originally scheduled to face Samuel Vargas on March 28, 2020, at The Forum,

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

, California on the undercard of Canelo Álvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders. However, following the postponement of the fight between Álvarez and Saunders due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the fight took place on July 24, 2020, at the same venue as Ortiz's previous fight against Brad Solomon. Ortiz won the fight by seventh-round technical knockout and retained his WBA Gold welterweight title.

Ortiz Jr vs. Hooker

Ortiz returned to the ring on March 20, 2021, beating

Maurice Hooker Maurice Dewayne Hooker (born August 7, 1989) is an American professional boxer who held the WBO light welterweight title from 2018 to 2019 and challenged for the WBC light welterweight title in 2019. Professional career Hooker vs. Flanagan ...

with another seventh-round technical knockout in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, Texas to win the vacant

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

International welterweight title. Hooker was ranked #8 by the WBO, #13 by the WBC and #15 by the IBF at welterweight.

Ortiz Jr vs. Kavaliauskas

On August 14, 2021, Ortiz defended the title against

Egidijus Kavaliauskas Egidijus Kavaliauskas (born June 29, 1988) is a Lithuanian professional boxer. As an Amateur boxing, amateur, he represented Lithuania at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 Olympic Games, and won a bronze medal at the ...

. Kavaliauskas was ranked #5 by the WBO and #10 by the WBC at welterweight. Kavaliauskas, who became Ortiz's first opponent to last longer than seven rounds, suffered five knockdowns as Ortiz won by eighth-round technical knockout.

Ortiz Jr vs. McKinson

On August 6, 2022, Ortiz Jr fought Michael McKinson in an eliminator for the WBA world welterweight title. McKinson was ranked #5 by the WBO and #10 by the WBA at welterweight. Ortiz Jr beat McKinson by technical knockout in the 9th round.

Ortiz Jr vs. Dulorme

On April 27, 2024 in Fresno, CA, Ortiz Jr was scheduled to face

Thomas Dulorme Thomas Dulorme Cordero ( ; born January 29, 1990) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer who challenged for the WBO light welterweight title in 2015. Early life and amateur career Dulorme was born on the island of Saint Martin and lived there ...

. He won the fight by knockout with liver shot in the first round.

Ortiz Jr vs. Tszyu

Ortiz Jr was scheduled to face Tim Tszyu on August 3, 2024 at

BMO Stadium BMO Stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC ...

in Los Angeles. On May 30, 2024 it was announced that the fight was canceled with medical advice. Tszyu required more time to heal from the injury sustained in his previous bout against Sebastian Fundora in March.

Interim WBC super welterweight champion

Ortiz Jr vs. Bohachuk

On June 24, 2024 it was announced that Ortiz Jr would face Serhii Bohachuk in Las Vegas on August 10, 2024. Ortiz was knocked down twice in the bout, but went on to win via majority decision (114–112, 114–112, 113–113) after twelve competitive rounds; this being the first time Ortiz had gone the full distance in a fight.

Ortiz Jr vs. Madrimov

On February 22, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Ortiz defeated

Israil Madrimov Israil Madrimov (born February 16, 1995) is an Uzbek professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) light-middleweight title in 2024. As an amateur, he won a silver medal in the welterweight division at the 2014 Asian Games and go ...

by unanimous decision to retain his interim WBC super welterweight title, with two scores reading 115–113 and one reading 117–111. This was the second time in Ortiz's career that he went the distance, as well as the second time in a row.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Vergil Ortiz Jr. - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz Jr., Vergil 1998 births Living people American male boxers Sportspeople from Grand Prairie, Texas Boxers from Texas American boxers of Mexican descent Welterweight boxers Light-middleweight boxers 21st-century American sportsmen