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As reported earlier this month, Vergil Ortiz Jr. will headline Golden Boy’s July 24th return to the DAZN airwaves, facing previously scheduled foe Samuel Vargas atop a multi-fight main card in Indio, CA.
“I’m very thankful and excited to be headlining the first Golden Boy event after the quarantine,” said Ortiz. “I’m happy that it’s still with the same opponent, so basically we’re picking up where we left off. It’s going to be a tough fight, and it’ll be a great way to kick off the year for me.”
“I’m happy to be back to work training in Las Vegas,” said Vargas. “I think that everything happens for a reason. I think this time off benefited me. I’m ready to upset the world. I believe I can come out with a win. The world is in a weird place right now. The show will be different. There will be no fans. But I have no doubt that I am going to win.”
We’ve talked about Ortiz (15-0, 15 KO) vs. Vargas (31-5-2, 14 KO) plenty since it was initially booked for March 28th in Inglewood. Ortiz is taking a bit of a victory lap after a breakout 2019 against Vargas, who’s “been in there” with some recognizable names in losing efforts. Let’s look at the rest of the lineup.
The co-feature, well, features a rather amusing matchmaking move. Both Hector Tanajara (19-0, 5 KO) and Mercito Gesta (32-3-3, 17 KO) were on Golden Boy’s shortlist to fight Ryan Garcia on July 4th, but with Garcia taking his ball and going home, Oscar and Co. have decided to just pit those two against each other. Tanajara’s a rising prospect with an ostensibly fast-approaching ceiling and Gesta, who’s 1-2-1 in his last four, has just kinda stuck around after failing to become the next Manny Pacquiao, a burden that every Filipino southpaw seemingly shares.
The card will also see Shane Mosley Jr. (15-3, 9 KO) make his Golden Boy debut opposite Jeremy Ramos (11-8, 2 KO). As you can probably guess from this softball, Mosley is not his father; he dropped two split decisions and failed a drug test before losing wide to future Charlo victim Brandon Adams in the 2018 Contender finals.
In addition, WBA flyweight queen Seniesa Estrada (18-0, 7 KO) faces Jacky Calvo (12-5-1, 1 KO) and Hector Valdez takes on Evan Sanchez.