Grand Prairie's own Vergil Ortiz Jr. improves to 21-0, sets up showdown with Tim Tszyu

ByJustin Estuart KTRK logo
Sunday, April 28, 2024
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FRESNO, California (KTRK) -- The knockouts keep coming for undefeated light-middleweight contender, Vergil Ortiz Jr.

The Grand Prairie, Texas, native stunned the crowd on Saturday night at the Save Mart Center with a captivating first-round knockout over journeyman Thomas Dulorme. The referee stopped the fight after Dulorme couldn't meet the ten count as he was trying to recover from the liver shot delivered by Ortiz.

Ortiz, 26, now improves his professional boxing record to 21 consecutive wins, all by way of knockout.

As soon as Ortiz' fight ended with Dulorme, he called out his next opponent, Tim Tszyu, who is the former WBO 154-pound champion.

Tszyu responded to Ortiz on platform X, formally known as Twitter, saying that he has his sights on him too.

Ortiz vs. Tszyu is penciled in for Aug. 3 as part of the undercard of three-division world champion Terence Crawford vs. WBA junior middleweight titlist Israil Madrimov at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

More notably, the upcoming fight against Tszyu will be a true test for Ortiz in the star-studded light-middleweight division. The 29-year-old Tszyu, born and raised in Sydney, Australia, is coming off his first career defeat after losing his WBO belt to 6'6" Sebastian Fundora in a split decision on March 30.

The winner of the Ortiz vs. Tszyu bout will also become the mandatory challenger for the Crawford-Madrimov winner, according to the World Boxing Association.

Ortiz looks to enhance his boxing résumé and has yet to participate in a world title fight in his career as he fixates on his bout with Tszyu.