Unbeaten Vergil Ortiz Jr. (20-0, 20 KOs) looked sharp, destroying Fredrick Lason (30-4, 22 KOs) by a first round premature stoppage victory in middleweight action on Saturday night at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. The crowd booed nonstop at the quick stoppage by referee Tony Weeks, as they felt that Lawson wasn’t hurt.
The fight didn’t get a chance to get started due to referee Weeks waving it off suddenly after Ortiz Jr. trapped the 34-year-old Lawson against the ropes and was hammering him at will with shots, most of them being blocked on the gloves.
Weeks seemed to react to a right to the head that Lawson took. The time of the stoppage was at 2:33 mark. It looked like Weeks blew the call because Lawson looked fine and was only hit with one solid punch in the final sequence.
It was a classic Weeks-type stoppage, going in history along with his strange calls in the Rolly Romero vs. Ismael Barroso and Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev II fights.
“This guy [Vergil Jr.] hits hard, and he was shaken up with one punch. It happens, it’s boxing,” said Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya to Fighthype about Lawson being hurt with one shot before Weeks prematurely stopped it. “I think he can come back. He was hurt, but he wasn’t beat up.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. says he wants a title shot against WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu. That would be a bad idea because he didn’t get enough rounds in to show that he’s back after a 17-month layoff.
“Are first show in 2024 was a banger,” De La Hoya continued. “You have some winners, you have some losers, and that’s the game, that’s the sport. I think Vergil made a statement, but the fight was stopped a little prematurely; we all know what Vergil was going to do.
“I think Vergil Ortiz is going to come back right away and hopefully, we can get him to that world title very, very soon by hopefully the third quarter of this year. I would love to see him back in April or May.
“I’d love to keep him busy this year. I asked him how his timing was, and he said he felt like he didn’t leave the ring at all. So, he felt strong, powerful. So, we’re excited for Vergil,” said De La Hoya.
“I definitely feel like this was the strongest I’ve ever been. I had a great camp and a great fight week. I told Oscar, ‘Put me in as soon as you can,'” said Vergil Jr. to the media after the fight.
