Boxing Results: Vergil Ortiz Jr stops Samuel Vargas

By Boxing News - 07/25/2020 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: In a methodical beatdown, unbeaten Vergil Ortiz Jr kept his unbeaten record and knockout streak alive with a 7th round stoppage win over journeyman Samuel Vargas on Friday night Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio, California. The time of the stoppage was at 2:58 of the seventh.

This fight was shown on DAZN, and it took place behind closed doors without fans present.

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Ortiz Jr (16-0, 16 KOs) pummeled the 31-year-old Colombian Vargas (31-6-2, 14 KOs) at will with shots in round seven until referee Jerry Reiss stepped in and waved it off. The fight was so one-sided that Reiss should have considered halting the bout in the fourth because Vargas was getting pounded royally by Ortiz.

Vergil was hitting Vargas with everything, and he stood in there and fired back. On defense, Ortiz was easy to hit, and it looked like he didn’t care. Vargas didn’t have enough power for Ortiz to be cautious. Later on down the line, Ortiz will need to sharpen up his defense if he wants to hang with the best at 147.

Vergil Ortiz Jr failed to stop Vargas faster than Spence

With the victory, the 22-year-old Ortiz Jr retains his WBA Gold welterweight title. That belt is one of three that the World Boxing Association has at 147, and it’s more of a trinket title. Manny Pacquiao holds the real WBA strap.

The one positive you can say about Vargas is he showed a good chin, as he was getting hit with some hellacious shots by Ortiz. A lot of boxers would have succumbed much sooner than Vargas did, but he showed he’s a lot tougher than most.

On the negative side for Ortiz, he failed to stop Vargas sooner than Errol Spence Jr did in knocking him out in the fourth round in 2015. Perhaps the reason why Spence was able to stop a younger, fresher version of Vargas a lot quicker than Ortiz is the body shots that he threw in the fight.

Spence worked over Vargas’ body with big punches, and that took the energy out of him. In contrast, Ortiz was mostly headhunting, and he made things harder for himself.

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Vargas would have got hurt

“I didn’t know because I was too focused on the fight,” said Ortiz Jr afterward when asked if he was bothered fighting without a crowd. I hit him to the body, and I don’t know how he didn’t go down, but he was hurt the whole time. He didn’t want to admit it. I asked him. I knew it was the time to take him out.

“If it had gone into the eighth round, it would have been worse. So the referee did a good job. When I take a round off, I try to get used to their timing, their habits and try to make them miss a lot. Against a guy like that, I’d say a solid B+,” said Ortiz Jr in rating his performance.

“I think I did good and did everything I was supposed to. Vargas just brought it out of me. I give him huge props to him. He was the hardest opponent to date,” said Vergil Jr. ”

As I was saying, the fight should have been stopped by the fourth round. Ortiz was pounding Vargas like a drum. It wasn’t a fair fight because Ortiz was way too good for Vargas.

Ortiz Jr calls out Errol Spence and Keith Thurman

“Yes, I did,” said Ortiz when asked if he told Sergio Mora if he’s ready to fight Errol Spence Jr.

“He’s ready to fight everyone at the elite level. It’s up to his team and the promoter to take care of this young tiger because he wants everybody,” said Mora. “With a performance like that, you’d have to give him the opportunity to fight with the best.”

“I would like to fight someone like Danny Garcia or [Keith] Thurman,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr when asked who he wants to fight next. “I believe those are very good fighters that I want to see if I can beat.

“Let’s make those fights happen. I don’t think I’m 100% sure I’ll win those fights, but that’s the point of boxing. I’m here to take risks, and that’s how you become great. And I’m not here to take the easy fight.

“I’m content and happy being in the hardest division in boxing. That’s where I need to be at. That’s where when I win a world title, I earned it, and all the hard work is paying off. It’ll mean a lot more,” said Ortiz.

At this point, Ortiz Jr isn’t likely to get a fight against Keith Thurman or Spence because those guys have a lot of options available to them. Thurman wants a rematch with Manny Pacquiao, and he can earn a lot of money fighting him. Ortiz has very little to bring to the table Thurman or Spence right now.

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Vergil happy with his performance

“I grew up watching boxers. I don’t want to sound cocky, but I don’t believe any of them did what I’m doing now. Sometimes they would go the distance with some fighters they should have stopped.

“They didn’t look good against certain opponents. It doesn’t matter if you KO the opponent or not. You can go the distance and do a great job, or you can stop someone in the second or third round, but you were getting caught the entire fight, and you were making bad mistakes.

“That’s why I’m here. I’m here to learn and be the best. My hands took a little beating him punching him the whole time, so as soon as I get ready and they heal again, I’ll be back in the ring,” said Ortiz.

There was a lot to like from Ortiz Jr’s performance tonight, but again, he didn’t have to worry about anything coming back. Vargas has an A-level chin, but his offense is C-level.

Samuel doesn’t hit hard enough for him to hang with the better fighters he faces. As such, until we see Ortiz Jr in with a live body, you can’t tell how good he really is. Maybe he’ll fall apart when he gets tested for the first time, who knows?

Oscar De La Hoya reacts to Vergil Ortiz Jr’s win over Samuel Vargas

“He was amazing,” said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya to ESNEWS on Ortiz’s win over Vargas. “His opponent was as tough as nails as we expected. Sixteen fights and 16 knockdowns [Ortiz Jr]. What else can we do but get him a world title? He wants to challenge anybody at 147,” said De La Hoya.

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Shane Mosley Jr decisions Jeremey Ramos

In the co-feature bout, Shane Mosley Jr 916-3, 9 KOs) used his height and long reach to outbox journeyman Jeremy Ramos (11-9, 4 KOs) by an eight-round unanimous decision. The scores were 79-73, 80-72, and 80-72. Boxing News 24 scored it 80-72.

It was an OK performance by the 29-year-old Mosley Jr, but not the type of effort that gives one hope for him ever winning a world title.

He’s not the puncher his famous father Shane Mosley Sr is, and he’s not showing the improvement needed for him to get to the next level. You’ve got to respect Mosley Jr for sticking with the sport of boxing despite having lost three times.

Seniesa “Superbad” Estrada destroys Miranda Adkins 

In the worst mismatch on tonight’s card, WBC female silver light flyweight champion Seniesa “Superbad” Estrada (19-0, 8 KOs) obliterated previously unbeaten Miranda Adkins (5-1, 5 KOs) by a first-round knockout.

The fight was over in seven seconds.  It was such a mismatch that it was disturbing to watch. Golden Boy Promotions should have done a better job of looking for a quality opponent for Estrada to fight instead of sticking her with a 42-year-old novice.

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Hector Valdez dominate Josue Morales

Undefeated 122-pound prospect Hector Valdez (13-0, 8 KOs) defeated Josue Morales (11-12-4, 1 KO) by a lopsided eight-round decision. The scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73.

Evan Sanchez beats Issouf Kinda

Undefeated welterweight Evan Sanchez (8-0, 6 KOs) scored a six-round unanimous decision over Issouf Kinda (18-5, 7 KOs). The sores were 59-54, 58-55, and 60-53. Boxing News 24 had it for Sanchez by the score 60-53. In the fourth round, Sanchez knocked Issouf down.

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