Boxing Results: Vergil Ortiz Jr. Victorious: Defeats Israil Madrimov in Close Contest for Title Retention

WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) overcame a slow start to rally in the second half to defeat Israil Madrimov (10-2-1, 7 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision on Turki Alalshikh’s card on Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Madrimov outboxed Vergil Jr. in the first six rounds, making him miss and catching him repeatedly with sharp, accurate punches to the head that puffed up both of his eyes. The judges did Madrimov no favors with the way they scored the fight because he clearly deserved to win six rounds at the minimum.

In the second half of the fight, Ortiz Jr’s pressure got to Madrimov, who was tired from all the useless movement he’d done earlier. Madrimov still landed the better shots and looked like he’d done enough to win two of the final six rounds. However, the judges felt that Vergil Jr. was the better guy.

At the end of the fight, both of Vergil Jr’s eyes were severely swollen, showing the effects of the harder punches that Madrimov was landing in the fight. Vergil Jr. looked like he’d been through pure hell, taking big shots and walking forward. It was fortunate to get the decision because it didn’t look like he’d done enough to win.

A rematch would make sense, but Vergil Jr. likely wants a title shot against WBC champion Sebastian Fundora.

The Scores

117-111
115-113
115-113

“I feel great. I honestly feel I can do 12 more. We fought a smart fight against a great fighter,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr. to Ring Magazine after his win over Madrimov. “We’re proving one by one; we’re proving everybody wrong that we belong at the top of this division.

“I thought he was going to do some more tricky stuff at the beginning, but I think he was playing it a little extra safer than I thought he was going to do it, but in the end, we won. I want the belts. Any of the champions. That’s what we want. We’re chasing greatness. We just want the best fights, and we want the best as well,” said Vergil Jr.