Tag Archives: Antonio Orozco

Vergil Ortiz Officially Set to Fight Samuel Vargas in Golden Boy’s First Post-Coronavirus Fight Card

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Vergil Ortiz is officially ready to rumble…

As previously expected, the 22-year-old highly regarded Mexican American welterweight will face veteran Samuel Vargas on July 24 in Golden Boy‘s first fight card since the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to boxing events across the world in mid-March.

Vergil Ortiz Jr.

The card will take place at the Fantasy Springs Casino Resortin Indio, California.

“We’re just excited, happy to be back with our fighters,” said Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions. 

“Especially a guy like Vergil who was scheduled to fight before the shutdown. He was 10 days out from fighting, so I’m just happy he gets to fight again, and we’re back at it.”

For the time being, Golden Boy’s cards in California will be held without an audience.

Ortiz (15-0, 15 KOs) is considered one of boxing’s best young fighters. The Grand Prairie, Texas native has stopped everyone he has faced thus far as a professional. In 2019, Ortiz stopped Mauricio Herrera in three rounds, and then Antonio Orozco in six.

Ortiz and Vargas were originally scheduled to clash on March 28 at The Forumin Inglewood, California, before that card was canceled.

“I’m very thankful and excited to be headlining the first Golden Boy event after the quarantine,” said Ortiz, who has been training with Robert Garcia in Riverside for the past few weeks. “I’m happy that it’s still with the same opponent, so basically we’re picking up where we left off. It’s going to be a tough fight, and it’ll be a great way to kick off the year for me.”

Ortiz is facing a seasoned veteran in Vargas (31-5-2, 14 KOs), who has faced Amir Khan, Luis Collazo, Danny Garcia and Errol Spence over the course of his career.

“I think that everything happens for a reason,” said Vargas, who has been in Las Vegas in recent weeks, preparing for this bout. “I think this time off benefited me. I’m ready to upset the world. I believe I can come out with the win. The world is a weird place right now. The show will be different. There will be no fans, but I have no doubt I’m going to win.”

As Golden Boy officials began to put this card together, they found a rather limited pool of options to draw from, in terms of selecting boxers.

“There’s a lot of guys that just weren’t ready,” Gomez said. “They hadn’t been to the gym because [gyms] were closed, they didn’t train, do road work, sparring or anything. Now it’s a little better, but we’re not in the clear yet.”

The co-feature scheduled for July 24 is a 10-round lightweight contest between Hector Tanajara (19-0, 5 KOs) and Mercito Gesta (32-3-3, 17 KOs). Other fights include an eight-round middleweight bout between Shane Mosley Jr. (15-3, 9 KOs) and Jeremy Ramos (11-8, 2 KOs), a women’s junior flyweight fight between Seniesa Estrada (18-0, 7 KOs) and Jacky Calvo(12-5-2, 1 KO), and a clash between prospects Hector Valdez and Evan Sanchez.

There’s no indication when spectators will be allowed back into any sporting events, and from Golden Boy’s perspective, the hope at this point is just to try to get the first few cards off the ground smoothly.

“It’s hard to say. It’s scary. You’ve seen the numbers, they’ve been rising again,” Gomez said. “There have been surges in Florida, here in California. I don’t know what the governor is going to decide. I just hope we don’t get shut down again.”

Jose Ramirez to Defend His Junior Welterweight Title Against Jose Zepeda 

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Jose Ramirezis going on the defense…

The 26-year-old Mexican American boxer and Junior welterweight world titleholder will make his second defense against contender Jose Zepeda on February 10 at the Save Mart Center, the arena in Ramirez’s hometown of Fresno, California, where he has drawn sellout crowds.

Jose Ramirez

Top Rankannounced the bout, which will headline Top Rank Boxing on ESPNspecial Sunday edition (ESPN and ESPN Deportes, 7:00 pm ET, with the entire undercard streaming on ESPN+beginning at 4 p.m. ET).

Ramirez is known for his copious amount of public service in his community and it will continue with this card. Top Rank announced that a portion of each ticket sold will benefit the Community Cancer Institutein Clovis, California. Ramirez also will auction off his fight-worn trunks, gloves, shirt and shoes, with all proceeds to benefit the Community Cancer Institute.

“I feel blessed to defend my title a second time at home against a great opponent and also support an issue that affects everyone and their families,” Ramirez said. “Let’s all band together to KO cancer and remember that every moment counts.”

Top Rank chairman Bob Arumhas regularly lauded Ramirez’s charitable efforts.

“Jose Ramirez is a great young champion and an even better person,” Arum said. “We are proud to be involved with an event that will raise a tremendous amount of exposure for cancer research. Zepeda is a really tough fighter who will give Jose an excellent fight. The fans in the Central Valley have supported Jose since day one, and I expect another fantastic crowd at the Save Mart Center.”

Ramirez (23-0, 16 KOs), a 2012 U.S. Olympian, will be in his second fight with head trainer Robert Garcia. Ramirez won a vacant 140-pound world title by lopsided decision over Amir Imamin March in New York and then returned to the Save Mart Center in September and outpointed Antonio Orozcoin a one-sided, action-packed fight.

Zepeda (30-1, 25 KOs), 29, a southpaw from La Puente, California, will be getting his second opportunity to fight for a world title.

He is unbeaten in eight consecutive fights — 7-0 with a head-butt induced no contest — since he dislocated his left shoulder and was unable continue against then-lightweight world titlist Terry Flanagan in July 2015, which resulted in a second-round stoppage loss.

“I’ve been waiting for this opportunity since my first world title shot against Terry Flanagan,” Zepeda said. “I’m going to train very hard, better than ever before. I’m very thankful to my team and Jose Ramirez for giving me this chance. I’m not going to waste it, and that’s why I’m training so hard.”

Jose Ramirez Defends Junior Welterweight Title Via Unanimous Decision

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Jose Ramirez is still the champion…

The 26-year-old Latino boxer defended his junior welterweight title via unanimous 12-round decision over the weekend in a sensational fight with Antonio Orozco that featured sizzling two-way action in every round.

Jose Ramirez

The roaring crowds inside Save Mark Arena in Fresno, California, and ESPN‘s television audience were treated to a true slug fest, as both men put everything on the line from the first bell to the last.

Ramirez won by scores of 119-107 on all three judges’ scorecards. He was making the first defense of the vacant junior welterweight title he won by defeating Amir Imam on March 17 at Madison Square Garden.

Ramirez was scheduled to make a homecoming defense against Danny O’Connor in July, but O’Connor was forced to withdraw 24 hours before the fight when he was hospitalized, suffering from dehydration and kidney problems incurred while trying to make the division’s 140-pound limit.

The wait was well worth it. Ramirez (23-0, 16 KOs) and Orozco (27-1, 17 KOs) wasted no time slugging it out. They set a dizzying pace in the opening round and seldom slowed down.

Ramirez’s jab, combination punching and body shots were the keys to his victory. Orozco battled back with left hooks to the head and body, but despite his punch output, he couldn’t turn the fight in his favor.

Many of the rounds were close, as both fighters hammered away at each other with reckless abandon. But Ramirez’s hand speed and slightly harder punches allowed him to edge most rounds.

Still, every time Ramirez seemed on the verge of scoring a knockout, Orozco, of Stockton, rallied back to stay in the fight.

A toe-to-toe exchange in the fourth round resulted in a knockdown when Ramirez countered a combination from Orozco with a right to the jaw that dropped his adversary for a nine count.

Orozco did some of his best work in the sixth when he connected with a series of rights to the head. He also did well in the seventh when he moved laterally and tagged Ramirez with a number of hard jabs. It looked like the end for Orozco in the eighth. Ramirez forced him to the ropes and delivered a brutal left hook to the liver. Orozco winced in pain and crumbled to the canvas. It was the sort of punch that frequently leads to a knockout, but somehow Orozco managed to beat referee Marcos Rosales’ count and blast back with his own punches.

Before the start of the ninth round, the ringside doctor examined Orozco but allowed him to continue. He battled on fairly even terms with Ramirez in the ninth and jarred the titleholder with a right uppercut in the 10th round.

Orozco appeared to be tiring in the 11th, and Ramirez made good use of his left hook to regain total control. By then Orozco was bleeding from a cut on his left eyebrow.

Ramirez won the final round as well, but with less than a minute to go, they stood chest-to-chest and banged away until the bell rang, at which point the crowd erupted in a well-deserved ovation.

“Antonio Orozco is a true warrior. He wouldn’t stay down,” Ramirez said, adding that he hopes to unify the title.

“No excuses,” Orozco said. “He was a better fighter than me. He’s a great champion. But I’m going to rebuild and come back.”

Orozco Knocks Out KeAndre Gibson

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Antonio Orozco is still unbeaten…

The 29-year-old Mexican professional boxer, a junior welterweight contender has positioned himself for a world title shot after knocking out KeAndre Gibson in the fourth round in a fight between unbeaten fighters on Saturday at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

Antonio Orozco

Orozco (26-0, 17 KOs) lived up to his nickname of “Relentless” as he went right after Gibson (16-1-1, 7 KOs) in the main event of the “Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN” card. He backed him up throughout the bout and blasted away to the body.

In the second round, Orozco forced Gibson to the ropes and continued to pound his body. A couple of shots strayed slightly low, and referee Russell Mora warned Orozco about the infraction.

With a minute left in the third round, Gibson landed a very low left hand that badly hurt Orozco, and Mora issued him a stern warning. But Orozco shook off the low blow, and in the fourth round, they continued to battle at close range before Orozco flicked out a jab and followed with a right hand behind it that caught Gibson hard near the temple.

Gibson dropped to the canvas on all fours and was clearly hurt. Although he beat the count, he was unsteady and did not respond to Mora when asked if he wanted to continue, forcing Mora to wave off the fight at 1 minute, 31 seconds as Orozco leaped in the air and pumped his fist in celebration.

“My corner was telling me he’s got the jab [figured out], so hide it and follow with the right hand,” Orozco said. “They were telling me, ‘Follow up after the jab,’ and that’s what we did — double jab, right hand.”

Gibson, who was stepping up the level of his opposition, had no excuses.

“I tried to outbox him,” said Gibson, whose purse was $20,000 compared to Orozco’s $30,000. “Unfortunately, I got caught. It happens.”

According to CompuBox punch statistics, Orozco landed 81 of 248 punches (33 percent) and Gibson landed 62 of 185 punches (34 percent), though nothing appeared to remotely bother Orozco. Of Orozco’s 63 landed power shots, 43 were to the body.

It was a big turnaround for Orozco, 29, compared to where he was three months ago. He was preparing to fight Fidel Maldonado Jr. on December 16, knowing a win would send him into a world title elimination fight or perhaps directly to a shot at unified world champion Terence Crawford.

Two days before the fight though, Orozco was struggling to make the 140-pound weight limit. He was dehydrated and lethargic and ultimately passed out. He wound up in the hospital, and the fight was canceled. He had waited too long to cut weight, and it cost him the title eliminator.

He was deeply apologetic to his team and took responsibility for what happened. In preparation to fight Gibson, Orozco hired a nutritionist to help him make weight properly, and he weighed in at 139.6 pounds on Friday afternoon and looked very sharp in the fight.

“From start to finish, I stuck to the fundamentals in this fight,” Orozco said. “We knew he was quick, had good foot movement [and was] a great boxer. Patience was the key, and we prevailed. I’m very happy to have won this fight, and now it’s time to go home to my family.”

With the victory, Orozco put himself back on track for a shot at a world title.

“This is the goal,” he said. “This is the first step [after what happened in December]. We’re here to become world champion.”