The streak continues. Texan KO artist Vergil Ortiz maintained his perfect record of 18 stoppages in as many fights by halting the ‘Mean Machine’ Egidijus Kavaliauskas in eight rounds at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on Saturday evening.
147-pounder Ortiz was repeatedly buzzed by heavy shots in a torrid second round but eventually scored five knockdowns in registering his most significant win to date.
“He caught me with a good shot and I took it well,” Ortiz told DAZN’s Chris Mannix afterwards of his second-round blip. “Nothing more. It’s boxing. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t as hurt as you think I was. He caught me with a good shot. It’s boxing, everyone’s going to get hit. I’m not even tired.”
Ortiz composed himself to score a knockdown in the third and floored the gritty Lithuanian four times in a dominant eighth before the finish. Rated No.1 by the WBO, a title shot is now very much in his sights with the Puerto Rican organisation’s champion Terence Crawford his principal target.
“There’s so much shit going on in boxing right now, I don’t even know what I have to do anymore,” said Ortiz. “I’m here whenever. I’m ready to fight whenever. It doesn’t matter if it’s Crawford, if it’s [Errol] Spence or [Manny] Pacquiao. You name it, I’ll fight anyone.”
In the chief support, Venezuela’s WBA Regular super-featherweight champion Roger Gutierrez won his rubber match and second decision of the year over Nicaraguan rival Rene Alvarado in a tactical affair. Scores were 116-112 (twice) and 115-113.
Main image: Kevin Estrada/Golden Boy Promotions.