Vergil Ortiz Ready To Resume His KO Streak

Coming up Saturday night in Ft. Worth, TX, unbeaten welterweight star Vergil Ortiz returns to the ring for the first time since a scary blood disorder sidelined him shortly before his bout with England’s Michael McKinson earlier this year.

And Ortiz told the media Thursday that’s he’s completely recovered and ready to continue his impressive KO streak,

A 🧵 of todays press conference 📸’s!

You can watch it all over again on our YouTube channel or by clicking this link: https://t.co/7yehWzCed2 pic.twitter.com/2wPL3TkdPL

— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) August 4, 2022

From the Golden Boy release,

“The pride of Grand Prairie, Texas, Ortiz, Jr. (18-0, 18 KOs), and the top 10 ranked, undefeated welterweight contender McKinson (22-0, 2 KOs) of Portsmouth, Great Britain hosted a press conference to discuss their upcoming fight on Saturday, August 6 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas that will stream live worldwide, exclusively on DAZN.

At the press conference, it was announced that their 12-round combat will also be an eliminator fight for the WBA Welterweight World Championship belt in addition for Ortiz’s WBO International Welterweight Title.

“I am grateful for this fight to be an eliminator, it’s just closer to a world title shot,” Ortiz said Thursday.

“It has been a great camp, staying in Venice, CA running outside by the beach. That the Texas heat shocked me when I landed and walked out of the airport. But after a few minutes, I was thankful because it feels like home, I knew I was home.”

“I have a lot of pride being from Texas and fighting in Texas. A lot of my peers and family are here and it pumps me up.”

“This is boxing, anything can happen. I have respect for all fighters that step in the ring. We all fight for the same thing, we all fight to give our families a better life. And I respect every fighter for it.”

Hear Dan Rafael and me previewing Ortiz-McKinson and much more on the latest “Big Fight Weekend Preview” Podcast by clicking below,

As for the Brit, McKinson he knows he’s a heavy underdog fighting in Ortiz’s back yard, “knowing that this is now a world title eliminator adds more fuel to the fire. This is just the cherry on top.”

“This fight has been a long time coming – since last November. Originally, I was told I would fight Ortiz, Jr. in January and then it was moved to March. Then due to unfortunate circumstances, the March fight couldn’t happen. But I just want to give a big ‘thank you’ to Golden Boy and Team Ortiz, Jr. for giving me the opportunity again. I know I am coming to the lion’s den, and I promise my family and team that I will not disappoint them.”

WBC, WBA, and Ring Magazine Flyweight World Champion Marlen Esparza (12-1, 1 KOs), and her mandatory opponent, the WBA flyweight world championship challenger of Maracay, Venezuela Eva Guzman (19-1, 11 KOs) will battle in the co-feature fight Saturday night.

And, former 140 lb. world champ, Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker (27-2-3, 18 KOs) will also take on Philadelphia’s Blair “The Flair” Cobbs (15-1-1, 10 KOs) on the Ortiz-McKinson undercard.

Saturday night’s Golden Boy show will stream on the DAZN service/app.