Vergil Ortiz Punches His Way to Middleweight in Las Vegas

In a main event which lasted two minutes and forty three seconds, Texas native Vergil Ortiz Jr. notched his 20th win with 20 knockouts to his undefeated ledger as he defeated Frederick Lawson at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas.

Ortiz Jr., (20-0, 20KO) erased a 17 month layoff in the DAZN televised event with a barrage of punches that prompted referee Tony Weeks to stop the contest in round one.

“I’m ready for anyone. It felt like I’m back to doing what I usually do,” said Ortiz Jr., who made a weight class jump to middleweight following a successful run in the welterweight division.

“This is my calling. This is what I was made to do and I want to continue doing this…there’s a lot of fighters that I want to fight, but Tim Tszyu, with all due respect, I want him next. He’s a hell of a fighter and it would be an honor to take him next.”

The event was Golden Boy Promotions first fight card of 2024 and also featured the promotional debut of Arnold Barbosa Jr. (29-0, 11 KOs) who TKO’d Xolisani Ndongeni and a shocking upset of Ohara Davies, who was rocked and stopped by Venezuela’s Ismael Barroso (25-4-2, 23 KOs) in round one. Barroso gained the WBA Super Lightweight Interim World Championship with the win.

Golden Boy Promotions also announced the signing of former super lightweight World Champion Jose Ramirez to their company.

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