Immediately following his stoppage win over Egidijus Kavaliauskas on Saturday, welterweight Vergil Ortiz gave his reaction to the fight while saying that he hopes to get in at least one more fight before the year is out.
On how he feels following his performance
“I feel good, you know. I feel good, I feel like this was definitely the hardest fight of my career. We fought a very good opponent, very respectful too — that’s what I like, it’s a gentleman’s sport — and we came out with the win.
“I’m not gonna like, [Kavaliauskas] was pretty smart, he was choosing his shots good. He had a pretty good jab. He caught me a few times with those jabs so I gotta respect that.”
On if he believes his own jab is underrated
“I mean, I don’t know about underrated. I do feel like I have a good jab. I don’t want to say I have the best jab, I would say it’s up there.”
On what was going through his mind when he got hurt in the second round
“‘Fight. Don’t get hit with stupid shots.’ When I’m fighting I’m not necessarily thinking in words, so I really can’t tell you.”
On what he takes away from this fight
“I’m taking the (tough) fights, I’m getting the valuable experience...I’m getting better with each and every fight. I’m getting stronger, I’m getting faster, and I’m getting smarter so I guess I am a puppy right now.
“I think I have at least one more fight (before the end of the year)...It’s just if they want to take the fight. Literally, that’s it. That’s the only problem we run into.”