Report- Rising Welterweight Vergil Ortiz To Face England’s McKinson

One the top young Welterweight stars angling for a possible 2022 title shot apparently has his next bout. Unbeaten WBO #1 contender Vergil Ortiz will reportedly headline for Golden Boy Promotions early next year against England’s Michael McKinson.

That’s according to ESPN insider Mike Coppinger’s report Monday evening,

ESPN story on Vergil Ortiz-Michael McKinsonhttps://t.co/o1AFVLPKPT

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) December 20, 2021

Ortiz is 18-0 and has won all of his fights by KO or stoppage to this point, and that  includes stepping up his competition recently with more impressive victories.

That includes his latest win back in August, when he defeated former world title challenger  Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas by eighth round TKO.

As our Marquis Johns wrote,

Kavaliauskas was in control early, until Ortiz caught him with a well-timed counter that sent him down in the third round. 

Ortiz pushed forward this pace through the fourth round as well, deciding to keep Kavaliauskas at distance. At this point in the fight, this felt like a totally different bout, as it looked like Ortiz began to look for an opening behind the jab. From here, it was Ortiz in control in the contest.

Sticking behind the jab, Ortiz continued banking rounds by establishing it. Kavaliauskas was trying to look for an opening, but he had a hard time getting away from the jab of Ortiz.

A body shot in the eighth round sent Kavaliauskas down for the second time in the fight. From there, it was a matter of not if, but when, this one would be over. A big left sent Kavaliauskas down for the third time shortly after and after another knockdown before the final seconds of the eighth round, referee Lawrence Cole decided to end the fight.

Couple that victory with his stoppage of former WBO World Jr. Welterweight Champ Maurice Hooker in March and the 23 year old Ortiz clearly has positioned himself as a possible challenger to the unbeaten WBO champ, Terence Crawford.

While that fight isn’t realistic in the short term, Ortiz will take on McKinson, who isn’t really much of a threat. The Brit has never fought outside of England and although he’s in the top 10 for the WBO, he has only 2 career KOs in 21 bouts.

It’s likely that Golden Boy and DAZN streaming will put the Ortiz main event back in Texas, where his last two fights have been held.