Vergil Ortiz dominated Vargas Friday in DAZN return

In the DAZN Friday night return to televising boxing, rising, unbeaten Welterweight, Vergil Ortiz Jr., was expected to deliver a KO in the main event. And, he did just that in a domination of Sammy Vargas in Indio, California.

It was the streaming service’s first fights in four months since the Covid-19 shutdown of the sport and the twenty-two-year-old Ortiz was the marquee fighter on the card

At 15-0 with 15 Kos Ortiz was still in with arguably the most experienced opponent of his career in the Colombian born Vargas, who had previously been in the ring with the likes of Aamir Khan and Luis Collazo earlier in his career

However after a layoff of 13 months, Vargas was little more than target practice for the fast punching Ortiz on this night:

Vergil Ortiz Jr. is a baaaaaaad man ? pic.twitter.com/I64RlFa3Qr

— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) July 25, 2020

Ortiz came to the ring wearing a black robe and trunks that bore the name of his friend and fellow fighter, Travell “Black Magic” Mazion, who was killed in a car wreck in Texas last week.

And, right away, Ortiz  landed at will, particularly with overhand rights and even bloodied Vargas’ nose in the second round of the battle. The Texan, who is clearly on his way up in the Welterweight division scored with a barrage of punches.

Those included several more hard, overhand rights and had Vargas in trouble along the ropes during the fourth round.

Veteran referee Jack Reiss came to Vargas’ corner in between the 4th and the 5th to tell him that he was very concerned with the beating Vargas had taken and that he needed to show more in the fifth round.

Vargas did, however, that only prolonged the inevitable, as Ortiz once again began to score punches in bunches.

Then, in the 7th round, a four punch combination staggered Vargas and eventually an overhand right sent him reeling. He then grabbed Ortiz around the legs to almost to tackle him and prevent a knock down.

Reiss warned Vargas not to do that again and the fight resumed with Ortiz pummeling Vargas, again along the ropes. Reiss had seen enough at the 2:58 mark after Vargas took at least 10 punches without returning fire.

The 16th consecutive victory, all by knockout, was a first for Ortiz and his professional career. He had never been past 6 rounds before Friday night’s win.

The final punch numbers showed how lopsided and dangerous the fight had become, as Ortiz landed 264 blows, most of them power punches, to just 54 for Vargas.

The fight card was held at the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino in Indio, California, without fans present. Although Golden Boy Promotions President and CEO Oscar De La Hoya was in attendance to oversee the show.

On the undercard in the co-feature,  son of the legend, “Sugar Shane” Mosley Jr., upped his record to 16 – 3 with an easy 8 Round decision win over Jeremy Ramos of Puerto Rico.

Back to Ortiz, it will be interesting to see what quality fights he can get in the near future? This, as much like WBO 147 lb champ Terence Crawford, they are both on the outside looking in with Premier Boxing Champions Fighters Errol Spence and Manny Pacquiao controlling much of the division and big fights/purses.