Undefeated, WBO International Welterweight Champion, Vergil Ortiz Jr. (18-0, 18 KOs), of Grand Prairie, Texas, and President and CEO of Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya, held a special press event today at the Galen Center to promote announce the upcoming match between Vergil Ortiz, Jr. and 3rd place WBO welterweight Michael “The Problem” McKinson (21-0, 2 KOs) of Portsmouth, UK. The pair will collide on Saturday, March 19, at the University of Southern California Galen Center in Los Angeles. Ortiz, Jr.’s 12-round fight for the WBO International Welterweight championship. will go live around the world, Exclusively on DAZN.
(Image source: Lina Baker / Golden Boy)
Here’s what Vergil and Oscar had to say about what’s to come.
VERGIL ORTIZ, JR., WBO INTERNATIONAL WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONS:
“It feels great to order a card in LA. I have a lot of fans in LA who have been asking me to come back on social media, and I’m so glad we were able to. I’m looking forward to a good show at the Galen Center.
“I always train to go far in every fight. I’m not in the ring looking for a knockout. If there’s an opportunity to end the competition with a knockout, I’ll take it.
“I would love to fight at least three times this year. After this match, return to the ring as soon as possible and stay active. That’s how I feel, sharpest.
“My father coached me the whole time with Hector Beltran. He’s the one who always follows me around to make sure I’m doing everything right. Now that we’ve added Manny Robles to the corner, he brings experience and a different perspective. He’s brought fighters like Oscar Valdez and Andy Ruiz to world titles, and hopefully, we can too. ”
OSCAR DE LA HOYA, GOLDEN BOY PRESIDENT AND CEO:
“As a promoter, we have to knock on so many doors to get our fighters to fight, and it’s a dream come true when fighters like Michael McKinson want to face one of our guys. we. Vergil is in a very unique position, 18-0, 18KO. The world champions know he’s dangerous; world champions know that if they get into the ring with him, there’s a huge chance they’ll lose. So to my surprise, McKinson was knocking on Vergil’s door, our door. It just shows you that when you fight in this level you will cross paths with great warriors who want to fight the best.
“Vergil has his father who knows the input and the output. He trained him all his life. It was a breath of fresh air to hear what they were thinking, coming to LA with great fighters and great games. Manny has great experience and knowledge that could become the perfect second voice for Vergil’s father, who was at the forefront of Vergil’s training.
“Vergil just keeps getting better, and better. I tell every world champion to fight Vergil now. Fight him now because if you wait a year or two it will only get worse for you because Vergil is so young and getting better and better. He’s knocking on these champions’ doors, so it’ll be interesting to see who he plays next. ”
Ticket for the event go on sale now and cost $150, $75, $50, and $25, excluding applicable service fees. Tickets will be available for purchase at www.galencenter.org or www.goldenboypromotions.com. Please note that LADPH guidelines and other processes related to admission requirements will apply to this event, including that all guests two years of age and older will be required to provide proof of full immunizations. sufficient or negative COVID-19 test results within 24 hours for antigen tests or 48 hours for PCR tests.
