By Ricardo Lezama 
Vergil Ortiz Jr., the Chicano from Grand Prairie, near Dallas, Texas, punched to Israel Madrimov’s body as soon as the 1st round. While American boxing pundits, Sergio Mora and Shawn Porter wanted Ortiz to jab as soon as the bell rang, the young power boxer with a sound defense preferred to close distance with his footwork while eventually landing a sweet power punch to Madrimov’s body once to set the cadence for the rest of the fight.
Apprehension
After a difficult last fight against Serhi Bohachuk, many fight fans had some reservations about Madrimov’s potentially strong and explosive counter punching style causing problems for Ortiz Jr. Remember, Madrimov had been able to take Crawford the distance and also land consecutive right hands on what many believe is a top pound-for-pound fighter in Crawford. Many feared that the crafty Uzbek with hundreds of amateur fights under his belt would be able to take Ortiz’s defensive flaws (which aren’t many if any at all) and land a lucky overhand right. Indeed, throughout the fight, Madrimov’s right did land, but both Ortiz’s overall punch resistance and high guard helped him take the steam off the punches.
One of the flaws, however, for Madrimov was the offensive tepidness. He refused to engage for anything but a counter and that may plague him for future fights as waiting for the action as opposed to making it will cause him to lose on the cards much of the time.
The comparison in the victory against Madrimov for Ortiz Jr. and Crawford is difficult to avoid. While we are biased to the pressure fighter, we can characterize the strategies as both meritful and different. If the formula for Crawford was skillful timing and counters too (which made for a boring fight in comparison to the Ortiz Jr one), then the strategy for Ortiz was mindful pressure on his own terms – no waiting.
Madrimov Woes?
Unfortunately, Israel Madrimov also claimed that he suffered from a prolonged sickness prior to the fight. A doctor advised that he pull out, but the gravity of the event made him reconsider. Nonetheless, he did look like his usual self with occasional explosiveness and great footwork that was negated by intelligent pressure from Ortiz Jr.
While American broadcasters wanted a jab, British broadcasters were much more impressed over the power punching early on. Eventually, Vergil Ortiz Jr gave to the overly critical announcers, Shawn Porter and Sergio Mora, the shotgun and double jabs later on.
Never-mind the commentary, the performance was incredibly well rounded from Ortiz Jr. from a defensively sound Ortiz Jr. who appeared to be in full health despite his father’s claims of a back injury on social media. The end result was a fight that was quite invigorating for long time fans. At junior middleweight, Ortiz Jr. is able to better execute his gameplan and stay healthy.