By Kenneth Friedman: Vergil Ortiz Jr. will be fighting TBA on March 28 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Ortiz needs a good opponent that will test him this time, because he’s been quickly destroying everyone put in front of him. Golden Boy needs to step the hard hitting Ortiz against a good top 10 contender.
One problem that Golden Boy Promotions has is how scary Ortiz is looking right now. With his heavy hands, no one has been able to last more than 6 rounds against him since he turned pro in 2016. Antonio Orozco took major punishment before getting dropped three times in the 6th in losing by a 6th round knockout last August.
Ortiz (15-0, 15 KOs) is a star on the rise in the welterweight division, and he could be the guy that soon takes over. The Golden Boy fighter is being groomed for greatness, and he’s got all the tools to soon be the #1 in the 147-lb division.
GGG defending against Szeremeta
The date originally was planned for IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin for his first defense of his new title against Kamil Szeremeta, but his fight has been moved to April, according to @StevESPNKim.
DAZN isn’t getting much for all the money they’re paying Golovkin, and you have to wonder if they’re the ones that decided to have his March 28th date moved back. What GGG really needs is to vacate the IBF title so that he doesn’t subject the boxing public to seeing him face a no name that they’re not interested in seeing him fight in Szeremeta. Fans have zero interest in watching Golovkin demolish the light hitting Polish fighter.
These guys would give DAZN more for their money in a fight against GGG:
- Jermall Charlo
- Demetrius Andrade
- Callum Smith
- David Benavidez
- Jarrett Hurd
- Jermell Charlo
- Caleb Plant
- Chris Eubank Jr.
- Artur Beterbiev
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk
Golovkin’s star power is diminishing, and not just because of his two less than spectacular performances against Canelo Alvarez. It’s the fights that GGG is taking when he’s NOT fighting Canelo is what’s hurting him. In the two fights that Golovkin has taken between his three matches against Canelo, he’s faced Vanes Martirosyan, Steve Rolls and Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
There’s still no opponent named for the young 21-year-old Ortiz Jr. (15-0, 15 KOs), but hopefully it’s a step up from the last guy he fought in 36-year-old Brad Solomon last December. Ortiz destroyed in five rounds in dropping him 3 times before the fight was stopped.
Golovkin taking an easy fight waiting/hoping for Canelo trilogy
It’s unknown why the GGG vs. Szeremeta is being moved off the March 28 date on DAZN. However, it’s no secret that boxing fans aren’t excited at seeing Golovkin defend his IBF belt against the badly over-matched Szeremeta. DAZN isn’t getiting much value for all the money that they’re paying Golovkin.
There are a lot of good fighters at 160 and 168 with DAZN that Golovkin could be facing. He doesn’t need the IBF belt if he’s going to force him to fight weak opponents that aren’t interested in seeing him fight.
Some boxing fans believe that Golovkin would still be fighting Szeremeta twhether he had the IBF title or not, because he’s someone that he can beat with a high degree of certainty. After GGG’s win over Steve Rolls last year, Szeremeta was mentioned as opponent that they were eyeing, and that was before Golovkin won the IBF belt.
GGG didn’t look good in his close 12 round decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko last October. Golovkin was lucky to escape the Derevyanchenko fight with a victory, because he looked like the clear loser in that fight.
Ok, multiple sources have told me that Vergil Ortiz will make his 2020 debut on March 28 at the Forum in Inglewood/Los Angeles. Look for GGG to move back to April. Also Top Rank may have a show this night in Canada with Artur Beterbiev. #boxing
— Steve Kim (@StevESPNKim) January 22, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOA57Mv5Z58