Indio Co-Main Event: Ortiz KO’s Alvarez

Indio Co-Main Event Report - Ortiz KO’s Alvarez in 3rd Round

By Marc Livitz:Vergil Ortiz, Jr. made it nine wins in as many bouts in his professional career with a third round TKO stoppage of Jesus Alvarez for the vacant NABF junior super lightweight title at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio on Thursday.

Vergil snapped his left jab from the opening bell, after which his combinations with body shots caused his Mexican foe to move around a bit more. Ortiz (9-0, 9 KO’s) continued the pattern throughout the round and the Dallas, Texas native scored the contest’s first knockdown just before the two minute mark. A double left jab coupled with a well placed right put Jesus on his backside. He was able to beat the count and fight on.

Alvarez (15-4, 11 KO’s) kept his guard high and tight to begin the second. Ortiz connected with a nice right uppercut midway through the period and remained relentless with the jab. Successive lefts forced his opponent from Sinaloa state backwards in the closing moments.

Alvarez tried to make the bout a bit more of the close-in variety as the third commenced, but his unbeaten Texan foe would have none of it. With less than a minute to go, a hard right put Jesus Alvarez on sluggish legs, which caused him to backpedal into the ropes. Vergil saw this and smartly went on the attack. Unanswered shots upstairs eventually caused referee Raul Caiz, Jr. to stop the action at the 2:23 point of the round to award the TKO win to Vergil Ortiz, Jr.

“I felt pretty good but I honestly think that this was my worst fight ever,” said the victorious Ortiz after the bout. “I could have stopped him in the first round. He was very tough and I could have broken him down quicker, but this is a learning experience. How I build myself as a fighter is what’s most important. The combination work is what set everything up and I tried to get away from the one-punch knockdowns.”

“I know what I did tonight would not cut it in a world title fight, so I have to work at it.”