BoxRec

Vergil Ortiz-David Avanesyan In Play For August 6 In Texas

Vergil Ortiz Jr. is not only sticking around at welterweight but made a point to seek out one of the division’s boogeymen.

BS.com has confirmed that the unbeaten top-rated welterweight contender will likely next face David Avanesyan atop an August 6 DAZN show in the greater Dallas area. The scheduled 12-round bout will serve as a final eliminator for the WBC welterweight title current WBC/WBA/IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22KOs).

According to multiple sources, the fight is still not officially signed.

Once agreed to, the event will mark the 2022 debut for Ortiz (18-0, 18KOs), who will end a career-long 51-week ring hiatus both due to scheduling delays and an untimely health scare. The red-hot knockout artist from Grand Prairie, Texas was originally tabbed to headline a DAZN show in January, only for a rescheduled shuffle pushing back his fight with England’s Michael McKinson to March 19 at USC Galen Center in Los Angeles.

Ortiz never made it to fight night, as he was hospitalized prior to the start of fight week to treat rhabdomyolysis, commonly known as rhabdo. The extreme medical condition which occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases proteins into the bloodstream, which was an obvious disqualifier in his moving forward with the fight.

Despite rumors of his struggling to make weight and with a move to the 154-pound division imminent, Ortiz previously confirmed his plans to stick around at welterweight where he still plans to win his first major title. The decision brought the discussion back to a fight that was first proposed during the annual WBC convention last November.

Ortiz and Avanesyan have remained the top two rated contenders in the WBC welterweight rankings, which prompted the sanctioning body to propose a final eliminator. Golden Boy Promotions, Ortiz’s promoter, asked for and was granted a one-fight delay since plans were already in motion for his next fight.

Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17KOs) accepted a stay-busy fight, scoring a first-round knockout of unbeaten but untested Oskari Metz on March 19 at Wembley’s SSE Arena. The fight extended a current six-fight win streak—all by knockout—for the Russia-born boxer of Armenian descent, who is based out of England.

Prior to his current run and rise to welterweight contender status, Avanesyan was best known for his May 2016 win over former three-division champion Shane Mosley, who retired after the fight and was since elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Avanesyan won a secondary WBA welterweight title, which he lost one fight later in a competitive but clear decision in favor of Lamont Peterson in February 2017.

A considerably more lopsided sixth-round knockout loss to then-unbeaten Egidijus Kavaliauskas in February 2018 left Avanesyan’s career in a tailspin. He worked it to his advantage, having defeated three unbeaten opponents in his current six-fight win streak, including notable stoppage wins over Kerman Lejarraga (twice) and Josh Kelly, all coming on the road.

Avanesyan now faces a similar predicament, though against a far more dangerous foe in Ortiz.

Jesus what a fight.

Props to GBP..

Cracker

Top fight. Either Avanesyan exposes Ortiz early or Otriz stop Avanesyan in a one sided fight, cant wait

Class fight. I wonder if Eddie will be pushing it now as a big part of the DAZN sequence of shows?!

maverick23 wrote: ↑26 May 2022, 13:49 Class fight. I wonder if Eddie will be pushing it now as a big part of the DAZN sequence of shows?!

Yeh. Frank has failed Ava.

Not been with him long but his next big fight isn’t even on BT.

Love this fight on paper. After the McKinson fiasco, not sure I'll believe it until Ortiz is in the ring, but quality fight nonetheless.

(craig) wrote: ↑26 May 2022, 12:46 Cracker

Darn right!
I think these guys mesh perfectly, and it should be a great fan friendly watch

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑26 May 2022, 13:59

maverick23 wrote: ↑26 May 2022, 13:49 Class fight. I wonder if Eddie will be pushing it now as a big part of the DAZN sequence of shows?!

Yeh. Frank has failed Ava.

Not been with him long but his next big fight isn’t even on BT.

Disagree. Everyone comes out of this ok. We get a brilliant fight. Ava gets his top level fight and gets paid. Frank gets paid too.

Looking forward to Hearn selling the fight….

WBC
ortiz #1
ava #2

IBF
ortiz #4
ava #8

WBA
ortiz #1
ava #2

WBO
ortiz #1
ava #7

the winner surely will get mandated to fight for a belt,
wonder if Fwank got this fight sorted, or if it was neil marsh ?

Yanks thinking Ortiz blows Ava away early. They’ll just be looking at his record but he’s a seasoned guy and if Ortiz isn’t all that… Ava will show it.

Awesome fight, can’t fvcking wait

garethhop wrote: ↑26 May 2022, 14:23

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑26 May 2022, 13:59

maverick23 wrote: ↑26 May 2022, 13:49 Class fight. I wonder if Eddie will be pushing it now as a big part of the DAZN sequence of shows?!

Yeh. Frank has failed Ava.

Not been with him long but his next big fight isn’t even on BT.

Disagree. Everyone comes out of this ok. We get a brilliant fight. Ava gets his top level fight and gets paid. Frank gets paid too.

Looking forward to Hearn selling the fight….

Yeah - will be interesting to see if Eddie tries to push it.

Whilst I don’t agree with Ruthless in that Frank failed Ava, I also don’t think he’s done a particularly good job for him.

He signs him, gives him one poor fight in 8 months and then gets his cut of Ava’s purse for a really tough away day.

It’s a great fight but given that Ava’s team have been able to do deals already with some of the biggest US promoters, I’m not too sure whether they needed Frank to get the deal done and justify his percentage.

Good fight. Queensbury will know Ava isnt a sell in UK, more so at the moment with his Russian background. He's going to have to go on the B side of the card therefore to get paid what he's worth.

I think Ava is perfect for Ortiz, when ortiz sits down on that shotgun jab he looks fantastic.

great fight but even better showcase for VO, i think.

Gunfight at the ok corral

Ortiz prob too strong, guess we’re all thinking that as Ava has shown weakness before, and Ortiz hasn’t …

I don’t think I watched it, but I saw someone say that Josh stunned Ava in their fight, is that right?

MightyWarrior wrote: ↑27 May 2022, 04:18 Gunfight at the ok corral

Ortiz prob too strong, guess we’re all thinking that as Ava has shown weakness before, and Ortiz hasn’t …

I don’t think I watched it, but I saw someone say that Josh stunned Ava in their fight, is that right?

Yeah - he recovered fairly quickly though.

I’m already buzzing for this and they haven’t even announced it. I think Ortiz will be too good and that Ava is a little overrated. Reminds me a little of a welterweight version of Pavlik/Miranda.

maverick23 wrote: ↑27 May 2022, 03:11

garethhop wrote: ↑26 May 2022, 14:23

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑26 May 2022, 13:59

Yeh. Frank has failed Ava.

Not been with him long but his next big fight isn’t even on BT.

Disagree. Everyone comes out of this ok. We get a brilliant fight. Ava gets his top level fight and gets paid. Frank gets paid too.

Looking forward to Hearn selling the fight….

Yeah - will be interesting to see if Eddie tries to push it.

Whilst I don’t agree with Ruthless in that Frank failed Ava, I also don’t think he’s done a particularly good job for him.

He signs him, gives him one poor fight in 8 months and then gets his cut of Ava’s purse for a really tough away day.

It’s a great fight but given that Ava’s team have been able to do deals already with some of the biggest US promoters, I’m not too sure whether they needed Frank to get the deal done and justify his percentage.

Yeh failed was a harsh word. He hasn’t done much yet. I guess it was the case as you mentioned, he takes a cut of his purse, the fights not even on BT, like he isn’t bothered or trying. But who knows, he may have tried.

As you said being a Russian/Armenian, well he lives in the UK now doesn’t he.

What's Frank's cut for? Isn't Marsh his manager?

mickey1975 wrote: ↑27 May 2022, 04:40 What's Frank's cut for? Isn't Marsh his manager?

Cus he's promotionally signed with him?

Does he get a cut? or does that only occur when the promoter loses purse bids?

I don't know.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑27 May 2022, 04:49

mickey1975 wrote: ↑27 May 2022, 04:40 What's Frank's cut for? Isn't Marsh his manager?

Cus he's promotionally signed with him?

Does he get a cut? or does that only occur when the promoter loses purse bids?

I don't know.

A promoter would usually get a percentage of a fighter’s purse if they fight on someone else’s show. On a purse bid they’d normally get 20%. Who knows what the deal is with this one but almost certainly Frank will take a cut.

Vergil Ortiz-David Avanesyan In Play For August 6 In Texas

Vergil Ortiz Jr. is not only sticking around at welterweight but made a point to seek out one of the division’s boogeymen.

BS.com has confirmed that the unbeaten top-rated welterweight contender will likely next face David Avanesyan atop an August 6 DAZN show in the greater Dallas area. The scheduled 12-round bout will serve as a final eliminator for the WBC welterweight title current WBC/WBA/IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22KOs).

According to multiple sources, the fight is still not officially signed.

Once agreed to, the event will mark the 2022 debut for Ortiz (18-0, 18KOs), who will end a career-long 51-week ring hiatus both due to scheduling delays and an untimely health scare. The red-hot knockout artist from Grand Prairie, Texas was originally tabbed to headline a DAZN show in January, only for a rescheduled shuffle pushing back his fight with England’s Michael McKinson to March 19 at USC Galen Center in Los Angeles.

Ortiz never made it to fight night, as he was hospitalized prior to the start of fight week to treat rhabdomyolysis, commonly known as rhabdo. The extreme medical condition which occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases proteins into the bloodstream, which was an obvious disqualifier in his moving forward with the fight.

Despite rumors of his struggling to make weight and with a move to the 154-pound division imminent, Ortiz previously confirmed his plans to stick around at welterweight where he still plans to win his first major title. The decision brought the discussion back to a fight that was first proposed during the annual WBC convention last November.

Ortiz and Avanesyan have remained the top two rated contenders in the WBC welterweight rankings, which prompted the sanctioning body to propose a final eliminator. Golden Boy Promotions, Ortiz’s promoter, asked for and was granted a one-fight delay since plans were already in motion for his next fight.

Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17KOs) accepted a stay-busy fight, scoring a first-round knockout of unbeaten but untested Oskari Metz on March 19 at Wembley’s SSE Arena. The fight extended a current six-fight win streak—all by knockout—for the Russia-born boxer of Armenian descent, who is based out of England.

Prior to his current run and rise to welterweight contender status, Avanesyan was best known for his May 2016 win over former three-division champion Shane Mosley, who retired after the fight and was since elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Avanesyan won a secondary WBA welterweight title, which he lost one fight later in a competitive but clear decision in favor of Lamont Peterson in February 2017.

A considerably more lopsided sixth-round knockout loss to then-unbeaten Egidijus Kavaliauskas in February 2018 left Avanesyan’s career in a tailspin. He worked it to his advantage, having defeated three unbeaten opponents in his current six-fight win streak, including notable stoppage wins over Kerman Lejarraga (twice) and Josh Kelly, all coming on the road.

Avanesyan now faces a similar predicament, though against a far more dangerous foe in Ortiz.