Junior middleweights Serhii Bohachuk and Vergil Ortiz Jr. engaged in a memorable battle on Saturday with Ortiz surviving two knockdowns to squeak by with a majority decision victory. The match was well-contested and featured cracking power shots throughout the 12 rounds.
But the fight left
me a little cold. I thought that both weren't at their best. And this wasn't because one was being neutralized by the other. I don't believe that either was at his
sharpest.
Let's go to the victor first. I
think that Ortiz had Bohachuk seriously hurt at least four times in the fight,
with the beginning of the 11th round as perhaps the most memorable occasion. Yet whenever Ortiz had Bohachuk hurt and diminished, he was unable to put the right shots together to end the fight, or even drop him to the canvas. Ortiz was so poor in these instances that he allowed Bohachuk opportunities to recover time and again.
I believe that Bohachuk was there for the taking, yet Ortiz continued to make the same mistakes. He smothered himself, he loaded up on big shots that missed the mark, his footwork became clumsy which made it easy for Bohachuk to tie up, and he couldn't create better angles to land. Yes, Bohachuk deserves credit for knowing how to clinch and ducking under some shots; these were veteran moves, but a first-rate closer, as Ortiz was purported to be (he entered the fight with a 100% knockout ratio!), should be able to do better against a wounded fighter.
Something snapped within Ortiz whenever he saw Bohachuk hurt. He abandoned his considerable boxing skills and replaced it with an overeager zeal. He saw red, but he lacked the composure and temperament to get the job done.
 |
| Ortiz (right) on the front foot Photo courtesy of Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy |
And let's also examine the two knockdowns in the fight. The initial knockdown in the first round was kind of a nothing shot toward the back of the head where Ortiz dropped to the canvas for an instant and then picked himself up like nothing had happened. Referee Harvey Dock didn't call a knockdown and at no point did Bohachuk even protest the decision.
Eventually, Dock's decision was
overturned by "instant" replay (which took four rounds to reverse), and I'm
still not convinced that the punch was in a legally scoring area. However, that
shot in the first round and the left hook in the eighth round, which again
dropped Ortiz for an instant, cannot be ignored. Ortiz had some real issues with
footwork and balance in the fight. Of all the big punches that Bohachuk landed
in the fight, the love taps were the ones that put Ortiz on the canvas. The shot in
the eighth was a perfect counter hook where Ortiz's defense was nowhere to be
found. Again, it wasn't a hard punch whatsoever, but the right shot can be all that's needed
to swing a round to 10-8.
I'm also not sure what Ortiz's
plan was for the fight. At times he used his jab effectively, but it wasn't enough for trainer Robert Garcia, who continued to prod Ortiz to throw the shot more frequently. During portions of the fight, Ortiz was terrific with his power punches and did
wonderfully in close range. At other points, he drifted to the outside where he
got very little work done. There's certainly no problem with being able to
fight at different ranges, but Ortiz looked lost at sea both offensively and
defensively from the outside.
Bohachuk lost the fight despite
scoring two knockdowns and I believe that the scoring was correct (114-112 x 2
and 113-113). Like two of the judges did, I also had Bohachuk losing eight rounds in the fight. Yes, there
were snapshots in each round where he landed excellent punches, but far too
often his left hook was sailing over Ortiz's head, his jabs were too lazy, and
his defense left a lot to be desired. He was getting outpunched by Ortiz
throughout most of the fight.
Bohachuk himself entered the
fight with 23 knockouts in 25 fights and yet so much of his offensive arsenal
looked crude or ragtag. Through large portions of the fight, he landed
ineffectual arm punches. His accuracy was poor against an
opponent who certainly can be hit.
But the fight wasn't a dud...far
from it. If the technical skills weren't up to the highest levels in the sport,
the intangibles certainly were there for both. Bohachuk was getting pasted
with shots from the beginning of the fight, but he refused to yield. And even
more impressive, he kept hanging around and continued to find opportunities to
connect on Ortiz. If Bohachuk was outgunned during the majority of the fight, he was certainly opportunistic. His self-belief was admirable. Bohachuk's heart and
determination didn't let him down one bit.
And Ortiz showed a lot in gutting out the win. Garcia told Ortiz that he needed to win the last three rounds of the fight, and he did just that. Despite being dropped twice and having portions of the bout where he lacked fluidity or a cohesive plan, he kept plugging along. He had an excellent 11th round and did enough to sway the judges by the end of the match. It sure wasn't pretty, but round by round his performance was enough to eke out the win.
 |
| Bohachuk finding a home for his left hook Photo courtesy of Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy |
In the immediate aftermath of Bohachuk-Ortiz, there were many who called the bout the Fight of the Year, but to me, I have a problem bestowing that honor on a fight where I believe that both guys were a couple of steps down from their best. Bohachuk-Ortiz reminded me of Charlo-Castano 1, which was highly competitive, had portions of great action, yet gave me a similar feeling where both fighters left a lot of food on the table.
Like Israil Madrimov the week
before against Terence Crawford, Bohachuk just didn't close strong enough to
have any claims of a robbery. He had several excellent moments, he competed,
but when the fight was there for the taking, it was taken from him. Not by the
judges, but by Ortiz.
Ortiz has long been viewed as one
of the best young talents in the sport, but it may be time to curb our
expectations. In addition to having multiple fights fall out because of
serious physical issues, Ortiz has also played the coaching carousel, going from
Robert Garcia to Manny Robles to his father and now back to Garcia. There was
certainly a sense that Ortiz either was doing freelancing in the ring in
Saturday night or he couldn't fully internalize Garcia's instructions in the
corner. Neither would be a great sign for his future. When boxing savants like Mayweather and Crawford freelance, they have the ring IQ, the multifaceted skills, and the
experience to go off script with success. But with Ortiz, I often had no idea what his plan was
at a given moment. He didn't seem like a guy who had a clarity of thought throughout significant portions of the fight.
Despite my protestations of its quality, Bohachuk-Ortiz was excellent for boxing. It was the type of fight that defines careers. Bohachuk has proven that his knockout loss to Brandon Adams years ago
is now far in the rearview mirror. There didn't seem to be any cobwebs or aftershocks when facing duress. He kept his composure and fought courageously. He kept swinging. He has cemented
his status in the 154-lb. division as a serious factor. And Ortiz did find
a way to win when a lot of things didn't go right for him. That displays high
character as well. And if the fight did reveal certain flaws of his, he has time on his side should he want to improve.
If there is a rematch, I'm hoping
for a higher-quality version of Saturday's fight, even if it's not as
competitive. I like to see fighters at their best. I want to believe that Ortiz
has the pound-for-pound talent that so many predicted for him and I want to
see if Bohachuk is really as offensively gifted as his promoter, Tom Loeffler, has
trumpeted over the past half-dozen years. But those weren't my impressions from Saturday
night.
I commend Ortiz and Bohachuk for their effort in the fight. It was a spirited battle, a real prizefight. But I want both to head back to the gym and tighten things up. They fought for an interim-level title belt on Saturday and that felt about right. It was a couple of flawed fighters without their best fastballs trying to gut it out. There's always room for that in boxing, but these two can provide more.
