Golden Boy Promotions has been under fire lately in the public eye as there have been issues with their Middleweight Champion Canelo Alvarez.
Just like any company in business though, you have to ensure that you have a contingency plan that will eventually lead to the future of the company. Some say it’s the young Ryan Garcia while others feel that Vergil Ortiz Jr. is ready to grab the torch and become the next star in boxing.
Ortiz Jr. had a “homecoming” fight Saturday night against a savvy veteran in Antonio Orozco, who goes by the nickname “Relentless.”
GBP has a ton of confidence in their blue chip prospect but really needed to know if he was ready for the next level of competition.
Here is how the fight unfolded this evening in Grand Prairie, TX.
Main Event: Vergil Ortiz Jr. (13-0) vs. Antonio “Relentless” Orozco (28-1)
In the first round, a vicious left hook to the body by Ortiz Jr. almost folded the veteran Orozco but he somehow managed to whether the storm. In the second, Ortiz Jr. did a great job establishing the left jab while landing hard left hooks to the body and head. Orozco was seeing success when he had Ortiz Jr. up against the ropes as his left hook was landing when Ortiz Jr’s defense was vulnerable.
Ortiz Jr. continued to dictate the pace but it was the fourth round where Orozco won the round with accurate punching and “relentless” pressure. Orozco kept that pressure in the fifth but in the sixth round, a left uppercut by Ortiz Jr. sent Orozco down for the first knockdown of the fight. Once Orozco got up and after a flurry of punches, Ortiz Jr. landed a crushing overhand right that sent his opponent down for the second time. Orozco got up once again but was met by an Ortiz Jr. left hook which knocked him down and led to the end of the fight. Ortiz Jr. wins by sixth round knockout.
Oscar “El Jaguar” Negrete (18-2-1) vs Joshua “The Professor” Franco (15-1-1)
If you follow the club show scene like I do, after their first battle, you just knew that this had all of the ingredients of a trilogy. The first one was a draw, second was a controversial split decision and they traveled to Grand Prairie, TX to fight a third time in hopes of settling this once and for all.
Franco started off fast in the first few rounds but you can see it was just Negrete trying to get his engine going. Then in round four through seven, Negrete started to really pour it on but the rounds were so close that any judge would have a hard time definitively calling a round for one fighter or the other.
Franco then started to come back with some heavy combinations to the body and head while Negrete seemed to be wearing down. In the ninth round, it was Negrete coming back with the vicious combinations and eye balling Franco’s feet in an effort to land some cleaner shots. In round ten, Franco finished the fight stronger as Negrete had no answer for some of the offense that was landing.
In the end, the judges scored it 96-94 (Franco), 96-94 (Negrete) and 95-95 which led to another split draw. These two fighters are tailor made for each other and if they fought 100 times, you would see the same fight we saw tonight every single time. With three classic battles under their belts, it’s probably best they go their separate ways at this point in their careers.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. is about a sure thing blue chip prospect as Zion Williamson was with Duke. If you are GBP, you have to be excited about what you see and matchmaking will be key in the continued development of this young fighter, now WBA Gold Champion.
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