Confirming an earlier report claiming that he would take the March 28th date formerly set aside for Gennadiy Golovkin-Kamil Szeremeta, Vergil Ortiz Jr. has reportedly “agreed to terms” to face veteran Samuel Vargas in Inglewood, California on DAZN. Mike Coppinger adds that should Ortiz come out sufficiently unscathed, he “could” appear on the May 2nd Canelo undercard as well.
Ortiz (15-0, 15 KO) has a stronger claim than most for being the most promising prospect in the game. The 21-year-old enjoyed a destructive 2019, smashing Jesus Barrayan before handing Mauricio Herrera, Antonio Orozco, and Brad Solomon the first stoppage losses of their careers. His efforts earned him strong spots in the WBC, WBA, and WBO welterweight rankings, so we can reasonably expect him to challenge for a world title by year’s end.
First, though, he’ll have to deal with Vargas (31-5-2, 14 KO). The Colombia-born Canadian sports losses to Errol Spence Jr., Danny Garcia, Amir Khan, and most recently Luis Collazo; he generally spends his time fighting mid-level opposition in the Great White North, occasionally venturing south to lose to a name du jour.
Not hard to see why they’d pick him ahead to set up a 35-day turnaround.