It was the final press conference before the biggest spot of his career by far — facing veteran Mauricio Herrera in the co-main event to the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Daniel Jacobs fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this past May.
That’s when Vergil Ortiz Jr. took the podium and made it a point to deliver a heartfelt message to his dad, thanking him for his many sacrifices to help him reach that point.
The 21-year-old Ortiz followed those sentiments by blasting Herrera with a third-round knockout for his 13 consecutive KO in as many fights, looking mighty impressive in his 147-pound debut up from super lightweight.
Ortiz will continue to test the welterweight waters with even stiffer competition Saturday night, when he faces former world title challenger Antonio Orozco (28-1, 17 KOs) in Grand Prairie, Texas, live on DAZN.
As Ortiz prepares for the homecoming fight and continues his ascension up the ranks in hopes of getting closer to a world title shot, his dad’s sacrifices remain on his mind.
Vergil Ortiz Sr. was 17 when his son entered the world. Sr. brought Jr. to the Vivero Boxing Gym, which was also frequented by a young Errol Spence Jr., in Dallas when he was just 5.
That started what would become a longstanding routine revolved around boxing for the father and son — one that continues under the watchful eye of trainer Robert Garcia, although Sr. still has a hand in his son’s training as well. Along the way, Ortiz remembers his dad putting him and his five siblings way ahead of himself.
“He would pretty much starve all day, so we could eat,” Ortiz tells DAZN News.
“He used to take out loans and buy us Christmas presents. My dad has literally done everything for us. He made sure that we were OK.
“I was young, I don’t remember a whole lot, but I’m sure it was hard (on him) — especially with the whole boxing thing,” he adds. “It’s already hard enough raising a kid by yourself, but he’d take me to the gym every day.”
That helped instill an industrious work ethic into the young impressionable boxer. Vergil would repay his dad by training diligently enough to become a seven-time national champion and winner of the 2013 Junior Olympics, with a 140-20 amateur record to show for it.
Ortiz went pro in July 2016, rattling off a 12-0 record as a super lightweight. At 5-10, Ortiz is a big super lightweight, with his wise-beyond-years punching power, precision and patience. It’s like he’s in a rhythm in the ring in something that perhaps can be explained by his passion to play the guitar and piano outside of it.
His fighting attributes were definitely on display on May 4, when Ortiz rocked the welterweight gatekeeper Herrera in a knockout of the year candidate.
The finishing sequence had Ortiz absorbing a straight left to the body, before reassessing Herrera’s movement and sizing him up calmly. Within seconds, Ortiz landed a right hook across Herrera’s chin followed by a left hook to the body and a short left hook back upstairs. He just missed on a right hook, but reset, targeted Herrera and landed that right hook that knocked the veteran out on his feet to bring the bout to an instant, dramatic end.
That put the boxing world on further notice that Ortiz’s power not only translated to 147 pounds, but perhaps had grown even scarier.
Orozco, whose only loss came against new unified WBO/WBC lightweight champion Jose Ramirez in September 2018, should mark a level up in competition for Ortiz, who’s looking to segue from one of the brightest prospects in boxing to a world title contender.
Delivering as emphatic of an ending as he did against Herrera would seemingly inch him closer.
“I think if I get a convincing win, yeah, it will be a huge jump to getting a world title shot,” Ortiz acknowledges. “Right now, we’re just focused on this fight, but if everything goes well, then hopefully we’ll be that much closer to a world title shot.”
Perhaps that title shot will come at welterweight quicker than super lightweight, considering the latter division just crowned Ramirez as a unified champion following his scintillating TKO of Maurice Hooker last month. Regis Prograis and Josh Taylor will unify their own titles this fall, and the winner of that bout is expected to face Ramirez for undisputed glory.
Ortiz counts Ramirez as his teammate, boasting that their sparring sessions are pay-per-view worthy.
“I’m pretty sure that people would love to see our sparring sessions,” he says. “I’m sure that they would pay to see them. We give each other good work and help each other get better.”
If Ortiz is as dominant against Orozco as he was against Herrera, his confidence at 147 will most certainly swell even further, and maybe he’ll make the division his permanent home.
During that same press conference in May when he thanked his dad, Ortiz did mention IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. as someone he’d like to fight in five years.
When asked about the motive for throwing that out there, Ortiz explained it as a “possibility” and target goal that he would like to have in front of him as he continues climbing up the ranks rapidly.
“I was just speaking about a possibility,” he says. “Would I like to fight Spence? Sure, I’d like to fight anybody — I really don’t care. I have a lot of respect for him. I used to train with him when I was smaller. There was nothing about me calling him out. I was just stating a possibility.”
While that possibility is well in the future, what awaits Ortiz more immediately is his homecoming fight and another opportunity to further reinforce why Oscar De La Hoya always mentions him along with Ryan Garcia as the future of boxing.
“Golden Boy has really treated me well,” Ortiz says. “All my fights, I’m setting a high bar. I’m ready to show them that I can fulfill their expectations.”