By Mark Eisner: Vasyl Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) had a close call on Saturday night, struggling in the early rounds against the younger and much bigger Jamaine ‘The Technician’ Ortiz (16-1-1, 8 KOs) becoming, coming on late in the championship rounds to pull out a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. Boxing News 24 scored it for Lomachenko by a 115-113 score. He won but just barely.
Boxing News 24 will be giving live updates & results of tonight’s action below on the Lomachenko vs. Jamaine card.
- Two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (11-1, 7 KOs) knocked out replacement opponent Matias Romero (26-3, 9 KOs) by a ninth round knockout in the chief support bout. Ramirez hurt Romero with a big left hook to the head that sent him staggering backwards in the ninth round. Robeisy then went after the badly hurt Romero, nailing him with two solid lefts to the head that resulted in the referee stepping in to halt the fight. Before the knockout, Robeisy had fought too cautiously in the first eight rounds, throwing single shots and failing to throw combinations against the overmatched Romero. In the instances when Robeisy did throw combos, he had Romero looking overmatched. With the victory, Robeisy will battle next for the vacant WBO featherweight title in 2023. He’s going to need to fight a lot better in his next fight than he did tonight if he wants to win a world title because he’s not fighting with the same aggressiveness as he did in the amateur ranks in Cuba, winning two gold medals. It appears that Robeisy was worried about gassing tonight, so he didn’t go on the attack against Romero in the way he needed to for him to finish him earlier.
- Heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. (4-0, 4 KOs) destroyed a grossly overmatched Ahmed Hefny (13-3, 5 KOs) by a third round knockout. The 2020 super heavyweight Olympic silver medalist Torrez Jr knocked Hefny down three times in the contest, dropping him in the first, second, and third rounds. The contest was halted after the third knockdown. The time of the stoppage was 2:32. Torrez Jr needs to be fighting better opposition, preferably better ones that’ll get him prepared for the taller heavyweights. In the amateurs, Torrez Jr was twice easily knocked out by the 6’7″ Jalalov Bakhodir. Torrez Jr lacks the height and doesn’t throw jabs, which will get him in trouble against the taller fighters.
- In a disappointing performance, undefeated light welterweight prospect Duke Ragan (8-0, 1 KO) beat Luis Lebron (18-5-1, 11 KOs) by an eight round unanimous decision. In the seventh round, Lebron hurt Ragan with a right hand that had him holding on. The scores were 77-75, 78-74, and 79-73. The more accurate of the three scores was the 77-75 score.
- Undefeated middleweight prospect Nico Ali Walsh (7-0, 5 KOs) looked less than impressive, having to battle hard to defeat little-known Billy Wagner (5-3, 1 KO) by a six round unanimous decision. The judges’ scored it 58-56, 58-56, and 59-55. Walsh, the grandson of boxing great Muhammad Ali, showed none of the silky moves of his grandfather, struggling the entire way to beat a guy that he should have been able to destroy. Walsh was getting hit a lot in this fight, and his handlers will need to slow down his progression after this performance.
- Welterweight prospect Delante ‘Tiger’ Johnson (6-0, 4 KOs) beat Esteban Garcia (15-2, 7 KOs) by a lopsided six round unanimous decision. The judges scored it 60-54, 60-54, and 60-54 for the 2020 Olympian Johnson.
- Middleweight prospect Troy Isley (8-0, 4 KOs) beat Quincy Lavallais (14-4-1, 9 KOs) by an eight round unanimous decision. The scores were 79-73, 80-72, and 80-72.
- Lightweight Abdullah Mason (5-0, 4 KOs) knocked out Angel Barrera (4-1, 0 KOs) in the fourth round. Barrera was down two times in the third. In the fourth, the referee stepped in and halted the contest. The time of the stoppage was at :21, round four.
- Undefeated light welterweight prospect Haven Brady Jr (8-0, 4 KOs) beat Eric Mondragon (7-1-1, 4 KOs) by a dominant eight round unanimous decision. The scores were 78-74, 79-73, and 79-73.
Preview: Vasyl Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) sees action for the first time in ten months since his victory over Richard Commey last December. Tonight, he’ll be facing the unbeaten Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs), who is coming off a career-best win over former WBO 130-lb champion Jamel Herring last May.
Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum isn’t sure what to expect from him, as he’s been out of the ring for a long spell, defending his country.
“I think we’re going to have an interesting fight. I know him and did some sparring with him. I know what kind of fighter he is, and I can assure you it’s going to be very interesting,” said Vasyl Lomachenko to Abrams Boxing about his fight tonight against Jamaine Ortiz.
“I don’t think it’s going to make a huge difference because the state that you do sparring and the state that you do fighting are two different things,” said Lomachenko when asked if it makes a difference that he’s sparred with Jamaine in the past.
“Yes, most certainly, this is the main goal in professional boxing today,” Lomachenko said when asked if he’d like to fight undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney in his next contest if he beats Ortiz tonight.
“Listen, it would be great to fight with the greatest,” said Lomachenko when asked if he’d like to fight Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Ryan Garcia, Haney, and Shakur Stevenson. “It would be great to fight them in one tournament.
“A long time ago, I said it would be great to have a tournament and pick up the best in the tournament. But we all understand well that it might not depend on boxers all the time,” said Lomachenko.
Vasyl Lomachenko fights tonight in an important contest against #8 WBC Jamaine Ortiz in a 12-round bout in lightweight action in the main event on Top Rank Boxing at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card kicks off at 10:00 pm. ET on ESPN+.