Vergil Ortiz Jr headlined at the Ford Center in Texas, and he kept his perfect record in tact, defending his WBO International welterweight title with an eighth round knockout of Egidijus Kavaliauskas, scoring five knockdowns along the way.
Ortiz Jr (18-0, 18 KOs), the number one contender with the WBO, came into the contest on the back of seventeen straight knockout wins, and he was facing a strong contender in Kavaliauskas (22-2-1, 18 KOs), who gave a spirited effort in defeat in a world title tilt against Terence Crawford in 2019.
It was a quiet opener, with Ortiz working off a tight guard, and both men studying each other, looking for openings. The pair began to open up in round two, and the 23-year-old took a massive uppercut that shook him to his boots.
The Lithuanian knew he’d made a breakthrough, and swung for the fences looking for the finish, but Ortiz made it through the round.
The undefeated favourite returned to his boxing, with his jab a potent weapon, but he was caught by a chopping right hand. His response was an excellent one, with seconds left in the third, Ortiz scored a knockdown landing a power left hand that dropped ‘Mean Machine’.
Ortiz was settling into his work, staying on his jab and waiting for his opportunity to strike, but he still had to be on his guard, caught by a jarring right hand at the start of the sixth.
After a competitive seventh, the Texan went into round eight for the first time in his career, and, with just over a minute gone in the frame, a couple of body shots dropped the visitor for the second time.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR. IS A BEAST. pic.twitter.com/k4yO55sYdY
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 15, 2021
The 33-year-old beat the count, but the end looked in sight, as a body shot followed by a left hook to the head dropped him once again. He decided to fight fire with fire on the resumption, and was decked for his troubles.
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After beating another count, he elected to exchange and Ortiz timed him to perfection, landing multiple shots to leave Kavaliauskas on the canvas, and the fight was waved off.
“I’m here to fight anybody,” Ortiz Jr told DAZN post-fight.
“I don’t care if it’s [Terence] Crawford, [Errol] Spence, [Manny] Pacquiao, you name it, I’ll fight anyone.”
Make no mistake, @VergilOrtiz wants @TerenceCrawford next 🍿 pic.twitter.com/IshyiXjtce
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 15, 2021
Gutierrez beats Alvarado in trilogy
Roger Gutierrez and Rene Alvarado (32-10, 21 KOs) met for a third time, and Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KOs) defended his WBA super featherweight title with a split decision win, moving him 2–1 up in their series.
The 12 Round war between, Roger Gutierrez, and Rene Alvarado ends by decision! 💯 The WBA Super Featherweight Title remains with Roger “The Kid” Gutierrez! 🏅🏅
Congrajulations Roger!#OrtizKavaliauskas pic.twitter.com/5aaYkBr0ok— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) August 15, 2021
It was a tough fight to score, and more technical compared with their previous encounters. In the end, both men took a 116-112 verdict, with the third judge picking Gutierrez via a 115-113 score.
Alvarado stops Vazquez
There was a win for the Alvarado family, as Felix Alvarado (37-2, 32 KOs) took less than a round to knock out Israel Vazquez at light flyweight.
After good body work, a right to the head flattened Vazquez (10-5-2, 7 KOs) to bring an end to the contest.
Felix Alvarado with a huge first-round knockout against Israel Vazquez! 👀🔥🥊
Congratulations Felix Alvarado!!#OrtizKavaliauskas pic.twitter.com/8kzKUosEGw— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) August 15, 2021
Alex Martin (17-3, 6 KOs) took all ten rounds in his super lightweight match with Josec Ruiz (23-5-3, 16 KOs), with all three judges scoring 100-90.
At super lightweight, George Rincon (12-0, 7 KOs) took a tepid eight rounder against Nikolai Buzolin (8-4-1, 4 KOs) by three scores of 80-72, while his brother Alex (9-0, 6 KOs) took an eight round super welterweight win over Sanny Duversonne (11-4-2, 8 KOs) by two scores of 80-72 and a third at 79-73.
