Vergil Ortiz Jr. defends WBC interim half-middleweight title impressively – Robin Sirwan Safar also impresses at cruiserweight.
Half-middleweight Vergil Ortiz Jr. left no doubt about his class on Saturday evening in Fort Worth (USA). The unbeaten Texan only needed two rounds to clearly put Erickson Lubin in his place in front of his home crowd at the Dickies Arena.
Ortiz Jr. (24-0, 22 knockouts) used an explosive combination to the head of his opponent in round two and pushed Lubin (27-3, 19 knockouts) to the ropes. Referee James Green intervened after 1:30 minutes and ended the unequal exchange – another impressive performance from the up-and-coming puncher.
Jaron Ennis as observer
The 27-year-old also successfully defended his WBC interim title. Jaron Ennis watched the action from ringside – a perfect stage for Ortiz Jr. who is now heading for a top duel with the former IBF and WBA world champion.
The undercard program also offered strong performances. Cruiserweight Robin Sirwan Safar (19-0, 13 knockouts) secured a convincing points victory over Derick Miller Jr. (18-1, 10 knockouts). The judges scored the fight 98-91, 99-90 and 99-90 in Safar’s favor after ten rounds. This success may open the door for the Swede to a world championship fight against WBO champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
In the super middleweight division, the fight between Darius Fulghum (14-1-1, 12 knockouts) and David Stevens (15-2-1, 10 knockouts) ended in a majority draw. One judge scored the fight 96-94 for Fulghum, while the other two scored it 95-95.