Rising welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr. (15-0, 15 KOs) returns to action on March 28th against Samuel Vargas (31-5-2, 14 KOs) in a twelve-round main event at the “Fabulous” Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The show will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN. In the co-feature, Mexico's Pablo Cesar “El Demoledor” Cano (33-7-1, 23 KOs) battles Michael “The Artist” Perez (25-3-2, 11 KOs) of Newark, N.J. in a twelve-round fight.
Since debuting as a professional in 2016, Ortiz (pictured) has knocked out every opponent in sight. The native of Grand Prairie, Texas, who has roots in Michoacan, Mexico, will participate in his first fight of the year after stopping Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera, Antonio “Relentless” Orozco and Brad “King” Solomon in 2019.
“I’m excited to be returning against Samuel Vargas,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr., who is ranked #6 in the world by Boxingtalk “He’s a tough fighter with a lot of experience, so I know that my talent and skills are going to be put to a tough test. I’m also happy to be fighting in Los Angeles at such a historic venue where many legends in the sport have fought. I love this city, and I love the people here, so I’m going to work very hard to perform to the best of my abilities on March 28th.”
Vargas, a 30 year-old native of Bogota, Colombia, has faced a who’s who of welterweight boxers, including Amir “King” Khan, Luis Collazo, Danny “Swift” Garcia and Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. Vargas plans to engage Ortiz Jr. in a war, something he has yet to encounter.
"Throughout my career, I have always taken the challenges that other fighters in the division don't want, and that's exactly what I'm doing again,” said Samuel Vargas. “Vergil Ortiz Jr. is one of the brightest young stars in boxing, but he hasn't had to go through a war yet. I've shown that I'm willing to go through hell in that ring, so if Ortiz is everything he's hyped up to be, he better be on point March 28th because I know I will.”
“When people think of the future of the welterweight division, one name stands out, and that’s Vergil Ortiz Jr.,” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO at Golden Boy. “Simply put, this kid is special. His talent, speed and power set him apart from any other fighter who is moving up the 147-pound rankings. Don’t miss another spectacular knockout performance at the Forum or live on DAZN!”
UNDERCARD
Azat “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan (18-3, 15 KOs) will fight for the vacant WBA interim super bantamweight belt against Jose Sanmartin (30-5-1, 20 KOs) of Barranquilla, Colombia...
Welterweight Rashidi “Speedy” Ellis (22-0, 14 KOs) of Lynn, Mass. faces Sergio Ortega (21-2, 15 KOs) of Mexicali, Mexico in a ten-rounder...
Raul “Cougar” Curiel (8-0, 6 KOs) of Tampico, Mexico will face Steve “Manos de Oro” Villalobos (8-0, 6 KOs) of Mount Vernon, Wash. in a ten-round welterweight clash..
Chris “Milly” Ousley (12-0, 9 KOs) of Chicago will open the night in an eight-round middleweight battle against Jarvis Williams (8-2-1, 5 KOs) of St. Louis...
Seniesa “Superbad” Estrada (18-0, 7 KOs) of East Los Angeles, Calif. will make the first defense of her WBA interim flyweight title in a 10-round battle...
Christopher Pearson (17-2, 12 KOs) of Tortwood, Ohio will participate in a ten-round middleweight bout.
Ireland's Aaron “Silencer” McKenna (10-0, 6 KOs) will return in an eight-round junior middleweight clash.
