Vergil Ortiz Breaks Down Kavaliauskas Over Eight
Vergil Ortiz Jr. continued his winning ways stopping tough Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas in eight rounds.
The Welterweight contest that aired on the streaming service, DAZN officially ended at 2:59 of round eight in what was a great test for Ortiz against a former world title challenger in Kavaliauskas.
The second round was when the action picked and Kavaliauskas towards the end of the round caught Ortiz with a right uppercut which had him buckled. It looked like he also scored a knockdown, as well, but the referee Lawerence Cole ruled a slip (this had shades of the Crawford fight all over it). Ortiz was also able to recover and caught Kavaliauskas with a body shot that stunned him close out the round.
The third round continued this trend, which looked like Kavaliauskas was in control until Ortiz caught him with a well-timed counter that sent him down.
ORTIZ PUTS MEAN MACHINE ON THE CANVAS 💥 pic.twitter.com/swbVqQNY1K
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 15, 2021
Ortiz, now 18-0 18 KOs, 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 fight as it looked like Ortiz in the ring made the move 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 here, it was a matter of not if but when this one would be over. A big left hit Kavaliauskas down for the third time shortly after and after another knockdown before the final seconds of the eighth round, referee Cole decided to end the fight.
This was a different attack from Ortiz as he improves to 18-0. He’s going to have to wait a hot moment if he wants Terence Crawford as he is slated to face Shawn Porter. After this fight however, we have all the questions answered if Ortiz is ready for a title shot.
That answer is yes.
Marquis Johns is a unknown humorist and avid boxing fan. His love for the sweet science goes back to when matches were 15 rounds and has been covering fights since closed-circuit pay-per-views. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth is not only a quote by Mike Tyson, it's also a pretty good reminder to keep your guard up.
