Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Samuel Vargas agreed for July 24 on DAZN

By Boxing News - 06/20/2020 - Comments

By Sean Jones: A fight between highly ranked welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr and Colombian journeyman Samuel Vargas has been agreed for July 24 for DAZN in Indio, California. According to Mike Coppinger, the Ortiz Jr vs. Vargas fight is agreed on for July 24 for the main event for the Golden Boy Promotions card.

Ryan Garcia was initially slated to headline Golden Boy’s next card, but he turned down the offer that was made to him. Oscar De La Hoya then moved on and selected Vergil Ortiz to take the headliner position for the July card.

De La Hoya and Golden Boy are going to try and make a star out of Ortiz, but it’s still too early to know if he can make that leap.  At 22, Ortiz Jr has age on his side. He can wait out the talented fighters Errol Spence, Terence Crawford, Keith Thurman, and Shawn Porter before making his move on the titles.

Golden Boy probably won’t wait until those guys are retired before they look to match Ortiz Jr for a world title. Ortiz needs to be matched up against one of the above names at the right time, preferably when they’re old and looking like they’ve lost a couple of steps.

Vergil Ortiz Jr in a showcase fight

Ortiz Jr vs. Vargas is a showcase fight for Vergil, who will be the headliner on the July 24 Golden Boy promoted card on DAZN. The casual boxing fans will be impressed watching Ortiz Jr dissemble the limited Vargas, and obliterate him within four to six rounds.

Vargas is the type of opponent that will make the 22-year-old Vergil Ortiz Jr look like a superstar, but it won’t do anything to improve him.

Ortiz Jr must look great against Vargas because this is the type of guy that is perfect for his style. Vargas will come right at Ortiz, looking to swing away from round one.

In Ortiz’s last three bouts, he’s looked good on offense in destroying Brad Solomon, Antonio Orozco, and Mauricio Herrera. However, those aren’t top 10 contenders, and it’s difficult to gauge whether Ortiz Jr has improved enough to take on the best at 147 yet.

Golden Boy is hoping that Ortiz looks considerably better in beating Vargas than Errol Spence, Danny Garcia and Amir Khan did. It’s going to hard for Ortiz to improve upon the performance that Spence put in beating then 26-year-old Vargas in 2015.

That was arguably a better version of Vargas than the one that Ortiz Jr will be facing on July 24. If Ortiz can’t at least match Spence for how he did away with Vargas, it’s going to send a signal that he’s not in the same class as him talent-wise.

Ortiz-Vargas isn’t a super match-up on paper, as Vargas has come up short in the past when he’s fought first-tier 147-pounders. Vargas has previous defeats to these fighters:

  • Errol Spence Jr – TKO 4
  • Pablo Munguia – UD 10
  • Danny Garcia – TKO 7
  • Amir Khan – UD 12
  • Luis Collazo – SD 10

Image: Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Samuel Vargas agreed for July 24 on DAZN

Samuel Vargas recently was beaten by Collazo

It’s challenging to take Vargas seriously as an opponent for Vergil Ortiz Jr, given that his loss to 39-year-old Luis Collazo in 2019. For Vargas to be seen as a viable opponent for young lions like Ortiz Jr, he should be able to beat old-timers like Collazo.

You can say that Golden Boy Promotions would have been better off signing Collazo as Ortiz’s opponent rather than Vargas, but it’s understandable why they didn’t go in that direction.

Even at 39, Collazo would be a tough nut for Ortiz to crack, as he can still punch with a lot of power. There are more facets to Collazo’s game than Ortiz, who is pretty much just straight up slugger. Golden Boy likely recognizes the threat that guys like Collazo would prevent the 22-year-old Ortiz, who still needs a lot of development before he’s ready to take on the big guns at 147.

Earlier in the year, Ortiz Jr (15-0, 15 KOs) and the 31-year-old Vargas (31-5-2, 14 KOs) were scheduled to fight on March 28 on DAZN, but the fight was canceled because of the pandemic.

Vargas gave Amir Khan a lot of trouble in their fight in September 2018 in Birmingham, England. In round two, Vargas dropped Khan on the canvas with a hard shot. However, Khan was able to get up and dominate the fight the rest of the way, but Vargas got his licks in. That fight showed that Vargas could punch a little, and he’s going to get his pound of the flesh unless you get him out of there early.

Golden Boy putting Ortiz Jr in a position to shine

Ortiz’s promoters wanted the Vargas fight badly enough for them to reschedule it, and they might have been better off scrapping the idea to focus on more talented fighters. Vargas is someone that Ortiz Jr will likely roll over like a Sherman Tank.

What Ortiz Jr needs is someone that will develop his boxing skills to teach him how to deal with movers like Terence Crawford, guys that won’t be stationary for him. Vargas is the opposite of that.

Vargas goes straight at his opponents, even when facing guys like Danny Garcia and Spence. As such, Ortiz Jr will have an easy time obliterating Vargas without little problems on July 24, and it’ll be an empty junk-food type win for him.

“Sources: Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Samuel Vargas have agreed to a fight on July 24 in Indio, California. Ortiz and Vargas were scheduled to fight on March 28 on DAZN before the pandemic struck,” said @MikeCoppinger.

Image: Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Samuel Vargas agreed for July 24 on DAZN

Ortiz is being groomed for a world title shot

The direction that Golden Boy is taking Ortiz, they’re putting him in position to challenge for a world title possibly in 2021. Ortz Jr is the WBA Gold welterweight champion, and he would likely jump at the chance to face WBA Super World belt-holder Manny Pacquiao if the match were offered to him. That fight is unlikely in the cards for Ortiz Jr in this lifetime, so it’s best that he not get his hopes up for no reason.

It’s likely that if Ortiz Jr does fight for a world title, it’ll be against WBA secondary welterweight champion Alexander Besputin.

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