Vergil Ortiz Jr. remains confident that a fight between him and former junior middleweight titleholder Tim Tszyu is still on the horizon. Ortiz and Tszyu were initially scheduled to face off on the blockbuster Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov card on August 3. However, Tszyu had to withdraw due to a cut he sustained against Sebastian Fundora on March 30 not healing properly. Tszyu lost his WBO title to Fundora that night, with many attributing the defeat to the injury.
Despite the setback, Ortiz believes the match will eventually take place. Ortiz is now set to fight Serhii Bohachuk for the WBC interim title, but he has not lost sight of a future bout with Tszyu.
Watch Ortiz Jr. vs Dulorme highlights: Watch
“Of course [the fight with Tszyu will happen],” Ortiz told Fight Hub TV. “Not looking past this hard-ass fight I’ve got in front of me, it still happens – it’s going to happen. We were going to take the Tim [Tszyu] fight even after he lost because we know it’s a good fight. Just because he lost it doesn’t take away from him as a fighter. If I lose this one – not saying I am, but God forbid it does happen – that fight with Tim is still going to happen.”
The proposed fight between Tszyu and Ortiz on the August 3 card in Los Angeles was highly anticipated. The matchup promised to be one of the highlights of the event, given the fighters’ fan-friendly styles. Ortiz believes that when he and Tszyu eventually meet in the ring, it will be an all-time classic encounter.
“It’s [going to be] one of those classic HBO fights, you know what I mean?” Ortiz said. ”You go watch it and it’s like a throwback HBO fight. It’s going to be a good fight. You got to go in there with that mentality that it’s going to be hard. Just in case it is hard, you’re ready for it.”
Read more about why this fight was cancelled.
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