As boxing tires of its antiheroes, Vergil Ortiz may be the counterpunch the sport needs
Boxing has a habit of elevating bad behavior into box-office gold.
We have Ryan Garcia, who ping-pongs between brilliance, breakdowns and conspiracy theories.
Then there’s Tyson Fury, a heavyweight great once known for his anti-Semitic rants and alliance with alleged $ 1.1 billion-plus narco-terrorist Daniel Kinahan.
We’ve even had Gervonta Davis this week find out he got canceled by Jake Paul, of all people, after allegations emerged of yet another domestic violence claim.
Controversy, in boxing, sells. And, as a result, nice guys in combat sports can sometimes finish last.
Think about it. We see the worst trash-talk amplified through viral social media posts with a far greater frequency than we see efforts from fighters like Jose Ramirez, who champions Fresno’s farmers, and Shakur Stevenson, whose charity initiatives at a local level focus on youth development, education and social welfare.
These are the guys who use their platform for good, and arguably are types of fighters, like Wladimir Klitschko, who we may only celebrate after they’re long retired.
Big names like Garcia, Fury and Davis seem to consistently operate in chaos. They’re popular, but divisive, antiheroes. Champions like Ramirez, Stevenson, and Klitschko, by contrast, carry themselves like ambassadors for boxing — even if the sport rarely appreciates them in their own era.
And Vergil Ortiz Jr., a 27-year-old pressure-fighting finisher from Grand Prairie, Texas, is another.
We’re seeing evidence that a chaos-first era is losing its grip on boxing. Questionable ticket sales for Davis' exhibition with Paul, particularly after the fortunate draw Davis scored in the Lamont Roach bout earlier this year, suggest people might be tiring of "Tank."
We might be entering a period where fans just want to see their fighters fight the fights they most want to see. And, in Ortiz, boxing has a guy who runs from fire to fire, fights the flames with pure fury, keeps winning and has another big bout Saturday.
At Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, just 20 miles west from where he grew up, Ortiz takes on Erickson Lubin in what promises to be a barnburner. Should Ortiz preserve his undefeated record and claim another scalp, he’s on the cusp of a huge pay-per-view headliner against Jaron "Boots" Ennis — who is expected ringside this weekend — which could reshape the sport in America.
There are few theatrics with Ortiz, staged or otherwise. He speaks softly, yet he fights violently and lets his results do the talking. It’s a formula that feels almost radical in 2025.
I’ve spent enough time in Golden Boy’s office in downtown Los Angeles, and at their events across Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas, to have heard staff there say countless times that their culture has to mirror the way in which Oscar De La Hoya forged his own career. The Golden Boy founder, in his fighting days, beat Julio Cesar Chavez (twice), Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey, Arturo Gatti and Fernando Vargas. He boxed Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao, too. Win or lose, De La Hoya always wanted all the smoke. It’s a key part of why he remains the sport’s only six-weight world champion.
Considering Ortiz is building a sneakily good résumé, with wins over Egidijus Kavaliauskas, Serhii Bohachuk and Israil Madrimov, there’s an uncanny similarity to the smoke-chasing that made De La Hoya such a fan favorite in the 1990s.
Uncrowned asked Ortiz this week if that was by his own doing, or because of encouragement and/or demands from De La Hoya, Eric Gomez and other Golden Boy execs. “It’s both,” he said.
“We match each other's energy. We both want to fight the best. That's what I'm here for. I'm not here just to fight and get paid. I'm here to fight. And I want the fans to enjoy the fights. I love the energy when they love the fights. And being a part of those big spectacles."
“The fights are only going to get bigger from here,” Ortiz continued. “So it just makes me that much more motivated to take on these tougher challenges.”
Though bigger fights could distract him, Ortiz remains laser-focused on Lubin, as he’s doubly motivated to not only win, but “win looking good” when boxing in front of his hometown Texan fans.
“Just being in the ring with someone with the pedigree like Erickson Lubin, it motivates me to train harder, to actually want to come to the gym," he said. "I’ve been in some fights where I’m fighting someone and I’m like, 'Let’s just get this thing over with.’ This fight, I look forward to the gym. I want to work hard. I want to do good in sparring. That is the kind of fight this is."
“Man,” he added, “I’m really excited for this one.”
A setback in one of super welterweight’s biggest bouts wouldn’t derail Ortiz the way losses have derailed others in recent years.
A fight with Ennis may well be next, considering both "Boots" and his promoter, Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn, are expected to attend Saturday night at Dickies Arena. But there are enough opponents in the division to win rankings back from — or take titles from — like Xander Zayas, Jesus Ramos, and the winner of Sebastian Fundora vs. Keith Thurman when that bout is rescheduled.
Though he’s intrigued at challenging Terence Crawford at middleweight, Ortiz is also keen to shut down rumors he’ll move to middleweight any time soon. He wants to clear out 154 pounds, first. That includes "Boots." That includes Fundora. These fights are all on the table, he told Uncrowned.
Ortiz is living proof that boxing’s antihero era may be ending, and that nice guys can, for once, finish first. But first he must prove it against Lubin under Fort Worth’s lights.
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