If Vergil Ortiz Jr was a well kept boxing secret, the cat is firmly now out of the bag, as the Texan dominated the respectable and durable Samuel Vargas on route to a seventh round stoppage in Indio, California last night.
Ortiz (16-0, 16 KOs) maintained his formidable record and defended the lightly regarded and spurious WBA Gold Welterweight title with his victory.
Vargas (31-6-2, 14 KOs) had been previously been the distance with Amir Khan, who he dropped in September 2018, and had taken former Welterweight World champion, Luis Collazo to a split decision as recently as March last year, but he was no match against a ruthless Ortiz.
It turned into a seven round shellacking, which could have been stopped a lot earlier before referee Jack Reiss finally put an end to matters with seconds remaining in the seventh round.
The writing was on the wall from the opening round, with Ortiz working off a stiff jab to set up his right hand through Vargas’ guard and headhunting with power combinations, landing a massive left-right combination landed towards the end of the round.
The second was more competitive, but every time Vargas got into the pocket, the 22-year-old would easily turn him, and warn him off with spiteful punches.
The fourth saw more punishment dealt out by Ortiz, as he winged in more hurtful blows and this pattern continued until the conclusion, as Vargas came under heavy fire, with Ortiz’s movement particularly impressive.
With Vargas clambering to cling onto Ortiz, they both fell to the canvas, with referee Reiss ruling a slip, but the end was nigh with the 31-year-old’s head rocked back by more two assaults, and with Vargas trapped on the ropes and Ortiz unloading, Reiss mercifully stepped in to wave the fight off.
The Colombian had also only previously been stopped by elite company in former two-weight World champion Danny Garcia and current unified Welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jr.
Ortiz’s shorts were dedicated to his late friend Travell Mazion who tragically passed away last Wednesday in a car accident.
“I was like a solid B+” said Ortiz post-fight to DAZN.
“That (Vargas) was my best opponent to date. I would like to fight someone like Danny Garcia or Keith Thurman.”
The undercard was hit by Hector Tanajara’s scheduled opponent, Mercito Gesta, being forced to withdraw through food poisoning, so their Lightweight meeting was shelved at the eleventh hour.
Topping the preliminaries in their absence was Shane Mosley Jr (16-3, 9 KOs), who was too robust and slick for Jeremy Ramos (11-9, 4 KOs) and the son of former three-weight World champion Shane Mosley came through 80-72 (twice) and 79-73 on the cards over eight.
On the face of things, it looked like a mismatch for the WBC Silver Light-Flyweight title, as Seniesa Estrada (19-0, 8 KOs) took on Miranda Adkins, who was unbeaten in five, but had never previously been past three rounds.
A seven-second KO for Seniesa Estrada. pic.twitter.com/hD0DqHVedo
— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) July 25, 2020
42-year-old Adkins (5-1, 5 KOs) was stepping in for Jacky Calvo, but this fight was never going to be competitive. Adkins didn’t make it past seven seconds here, as Estrada knocked her out cold with two fierce sets of combinations, marking the quickest knockout in female boxing history.
Hector Valdez (13-0, 8 KOs) remained unbeaten at Super-Bantamweight with a wide points win over eight against Josue Morales (11-12-4, 1 KO) and Welterweight prospect Evan Sanchez (8-0, 6 KOs) knocked Issouf Kinda (18-5, 7 KOs) down in the fourth on the way to a clear points victory.
