LAS VEGAS — There have been a few ever-present boxing trends in recent years.
One example is when promoters — perhaps more than fighters — develop tentative three-fight plans for specific blue-chip athletes.
For Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya, there is a clear process to continue to develop Vergil Ortiz into one of the faces of his fighting roster.
The thunderous puncher has finished every one of his 21 opponents to date and, at the Michelob Ultra Arena inside the Las Vegas super resort Mandalay Bay, Ortiz goes toe-to-toe with another big-hitting super welterweight called Serhii Bohachuk.
But prior to Saturday’s showdown, De La Hoya had laid out a strategy to World Boxing News that could see Ortiz box Tim Tszyu, Sebastian Fundora, and even Terence Crawford.
Of course, even the best-laid plans can go to waste, particularly when there is a tough fight right ahead.
And so it is seemingly only natural to hear 360 Promotions founder Tom Loeffler, and one of his star fighters Bohachuk, hint at disrespect from Golden Boy and Ortiz for overlooking them in favor of the potentially bigger bouts.
Bohachuk, after all, is the first name on the fight posters that promote the fight, as it is the Ukraine boxer who puts his WBC interim title at 154 pounds on the line, not Ortiz.
Further, Ortiz has had little more than five minutes of fighting time at super welterweight, having scored two comfortable first-round knockouts since moving up from 147.
Bohachuk, meanwhile, went 12 rounds with Brian Mendoza earlier this year — an opponent who would have provided far sterner competition for Ortiz, than Fredrick Lawson and Thomas Dulorme.
“Certainly, I think the Ortiz side is overlooking Bohachuk when they’re making all these plans for future opponents,” Loeffler told World Boxing News this week. “Serhii is 100 percent focused on Vergil Ortiz.”
That has not stopped Loeffler from acknowledging that this fight could be an absolute barnburner, with Fight of the Year potential.
“It’s as close to a guarantee as you can get, as both guys are very aggressive. Vergil comes out, is great, and just non-stop punching. Both guys have a lot of power.
“It could be fireworks as early as the first round, and it’s as close to a guarantee of an entertaining and exciting fight that we’ve seen in a long time.”
Loeffler has interest in other bouts on the card as he also represents the ‘First Lady’ of boxing, Cecilia Braekhus, who competes against Maricela Cornejo in a WBC interim super welterweight title fight.
The co-promoter for the event, Loeffler was proactive in getting Bohachuk the platform to compete in the biggest bout of his career Saturday against Ortiz live on DAZN.
There were even options regarding a title defense on the Riyadh Season card August 3.
When Tszyu withdrew from the Ortiz fight, which was one of the best match-ups for Turki Alalshikh’s debut event in the US, Loeffler discussed with Golden Boy President Eric Gomez the possibility of replacing Ortiz.
In the end, it didn’t make it on that show. A Golden Boy insider told World Boxing News this week that it worked out for the best, as company execs regarded it as a headliner in its own right, rather than a supplemental bout for somebody else’s main event.
Loeffler agreed.
“It really deserves its main event here in Las Vegas under the spotlight, in the boxing capital of the world.”
Loeffler, with Gomez, then thrashed out the terms of the fight. And quickly came to an agreement, he said.
“Usually, you’ll see a champion that just wins the title want to make a couple easy title defenses,” Loeffler told us. “But Serhii wants to fight the best, and he knows Vergil is considered one of the best in the division.”
Loeffler then touched again on how overlooked Bohachuk is, not just by Ortiz and his team at Golden Boy, but by the wider boxing industry.
“People are definitely overlooking Serhii, and what he has accomplished. I know Ortiz and his team are very confident. They wanted this fight at all costs for Vergil to win his title, and that’s a huge step for him.”
Ortiz’s team also feel disrespected, though they refused to answer what, specifically, had offended them from Bohachuk and his team.
Speaking on the stage at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-in, Ortiz — who had refused to shake Bohachuk’s hand at Thursday’s press conference — simply directed people to the internet.
His father, Vergil Ortiz Sr., said even less, and made puerile remarks about those in Bohachuk’s camp.
Perhaps it stems from their training days as they’ve sparred countless rounds together.
Bohachuk told World Boxing News he is well aware of how good Ortiz is, and is not overlooking him.
“Sparring is sparring and fight is fight,” he said. “I know him, and he’s strong – really strong. And scary.”
Regardless of how daunting it can be to stand in the ring across from Ortiz, Loeffler is confident they’ll get the win.
“Serhii is going to do everything to defend that title, keep that title, and bring it back to Ukraine.”
The mention of Ukraine brings us to another ever-present trend in boxing this year — the reliability and effectiveness of Ukraine’s boxers at the elite level of the sport, as they carry to the ring on their shoulders the hopes of a nation at war.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk is the only one of Ukraine’s best five fighters, pound-for-pound, to have suffered a loss in a big fight this year — to David Benavidez, at light heavyweight, in June.
But, largely, it has been a story of constant success.
Oleksandr Usyk’s extraordinary victory over Tyson Fury, and Vasiliy Lomachenko rolling back the years to stop George Kambosos Jr late may have attracted more headlines, but Denys Berinchyk’s competitive win over Emanuel Navarrete, and Bohachuk’s victory over Brian Mendoza were also meaningful for the sport in that region.
We’ve heard throughout the year about Ukraine’s boxers rallying in the ring to provide a boost in morale for those affected by Russian aggression and invasion in their homeland.
For Loeffler, who is friends with former champions Wladimir Klitschko and Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, that remains true for his boxer Bohachuk, who “is fighting for more than just a title, more than his career.”
Bohachuk told us that “Ukraine has a lot of champions because life is so hard.”
Though his family are safe in a city far enough from Russian invaders, he worries about them. And does what he can to send money back home for them.
Loeffler told World Boxing News that Bohachuk “is fighting for his country. And when you have someone that motivated … just look at what happened with Ukraine, getting invaded by Russia, and recently you have Usyk winning, Lomachenko and Berinchyk winning.
“They have so much motivation fighting for a higher power,” Loeffler told us.
The road to the US was by no means smooth for Bohachuk, and it was such a relief to land at LAX in Los Angeles that he almost kissed the ground, according to Loeffler.
“Serhii was over there getting his visa renewed when Russia invaded his country,” the veteran promoter said.
“It’s unimaginable for anyone living here in the United States, or even in Europe, that your country is going to be invaded, especially the history of all, you know, what happened in World War II — and that’s exactly what happened.
“He was there for over six months and couldn’t leave the country. I had to get official permission from the Minister of Sport for him to leave Ukraine, to fight for his country not in the military like his brother, but in the boxing ring.”
Even after his Visa was approved he had to stay in Poland for an additional month while he awaited final approval from the American consulate in that region.
Finally, he was back with Loeffler in Southern California. “He was so happy to be in the US.”
Loeffler, too, was relieved. “They realized he can fight for Ukraine on a more public level by bringing publicity to what Ukraine is going through on the battlefield.”
The Bohachuk vs Ortiz fight, which tops an 11-bout Golden Boy Promotions fight card, airs live Saturday on DAZN.
Alan Dawson is World Boxing News Lead Writer, a 2 x Sports Journalist of the Year finalist, and 5 x BWAA awards winner. Follow Alan @AlanDawsonSport.
