By: Sean Crose
The 21-0 Virgil Ortiz slipped in between the ropes at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas Saturday evening to face his biggest challenge to date, the 24-1 Serhii Bohachuk. Not only was Bohachuk’s WBC interim world super welterweight title at stake in the scheduled 12 round affair, a high profile and lucrative future was on the line for each fighter, as well. With names like Terence Crawford and Tim Tszyu possibly appearing on the horizon, both Ortiz and Bohachuk had every reason in the world to be motivated to leave it all in the ring on Saturday.
Ortiz got right to work in the first by throwing heavy leather. Not that Bohachuk was allowing himself to be a punching bag. Ortiz slipped in the exciting opening round (at least it was initially ruled a slip), but neither man officially hit the mat. The second saw Ortiz chop away at his man with thudding body shots while Bohachuk fired off his jab. Ortiz slowed down a bit in the third, but he was still putting in the work on Bohachuk. What’s more, Ortiz’ was showing a superior defense thanks to effective head movement.
The fight went at a grinding pace in the fourth. Bohachuk did well, though Ortiz’ defense was again serving him well. It took a while for the fifth to actually begin because the supposed slip that sent Ortiz to the mat in the first was changed to a knockdown – a potential game changer. The fifth itself was largely fought in a phone booth, with both men fighting well. They battled at a steady pace in the sixth. It was a close fight, but at the halfway point, Ortiz appeared to be edging it.
Bohachuk put in solid work to the head and body in the seventh. A sharp left hook put Ortiz down in the eighth. Ortiz got to his feet and attacked Bohachuk furiously for the rest of the round. The ninth, simply put, was a war of attrition. Ortiz took to moving about the ring and jabbing in the tenth. It was a strategy that proved effective. Ortiz continued to employ the strategy on the first half of the eleventh. He then rocked Bohachuk…but the Ukrainian warrior fought back.
The twelfth and final round saw Bohachuk hurt early. The action had to be briefly halted so one of Ortiz’ gloves could be re-taped. The remainder of the fight consisted – as the entire bout had – in a state of sustained combat. When the scores were read, it was Ortiz who was given a majority decision victory from the judges.