Boxing

Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov Results: Ortiz Jr Retains Title With Impressive Win Over Madrimov

Vergil Ortiz Jr. scored one of the most impressive victories of his career over Israil Madrimov.

Nathaniel Marrero

Vergil Ortiz lands a right hand on Serhii Bohachuk.
Vergil Ortiz lands a right hand on Serhii Bohachuk. / IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire

A strong second half of the fight paved the way for Vergil Ortiz Jr. to score one of the most impressive wins of his career.

Ortiz Jr. retained his WBC interim junior middleweight title with a unanimous decision win over Israil Madrimov on "The Last Crescendo" on Saturday at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. With the win, Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KOs) remains undefeated and is the No. 1 contender for unified junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora.

The three judges scored the bout 117-111 and 115-113 twice. Madrimov (10-2-1, 7 KOs), who is the former WBA junior middleweight champion, has now lost two in a row with his other loss coming against pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs).

The fight was tightly contested through the first four rounds with either guy making a capable case that they won it. In the fifth round, Ortiz Jr.'s pressure and power started to wear Madrimov down and he seized control of the fight heading into the championship rounds.

Ortiz Jr. landed blistering body shots that helped slow down the movement of Madrimov and helped turn the fight into a grueling affair that led to the latter being warned for headbutts and holding.

Madrimov made a last stand in the final three rounds, but the work rate and bigger shots of Ortiz Jr. ultimately led to him earning one of the best wins of his career and cementing himself as one of the best at 154 pounds.

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Nathaniel Marrero
NATHANIEL MARRERO

Nathaniel Marrero is a writer for the Boxing, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Ravens On SI sites. He's also written for the Orlando Sentinel and MLB.com, and was a part of UCF's sports show, Hitting The Field. He attended UCF and graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023. Twitter/X: Nate_Marrero