To say Vergil Ortiz went through a great deal of physical, as well as psychological, stress over the last two years would be an understatement. 

The unbeaten Ortiz is not only back in the boxing ring, but a better version of him could take the junior middleweight division by storm.

With one eye on a major fight this summer against Tim Tszyu, Ortiz is also dialed in on his clash against Thomas Dulorme Saturday night at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The 12-round bout will precede the main event bout between former unified junior welterweight titleholder Jose Ramirez and Rances Barthelemy. 

Both fights will stream live on DAZN (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT). 

At Friday’s weigh-in, Ortiz weighed in at 155.6 pounds. Dulorme came in at 154.6 pounds. 

Ortiz (20-0, 20 knockouts), who resides in Grand Prairie, Texas, returned to the ring on January 6, scoring a first round knockout win over Fredrick Lawson. The win over Lawson was Ortiz’s first fight since a knockout win over Michael McKinson in August 2022, which would be his final bout as a welterweight. 

Before and after the McKinson fight would be a roller coaster ride of health issues Ortiz dealt with that postponed or canceled fights. Ortiz tested positive and was very sick from COVID in February 2020, which pushed back a clash against Samuel Vargas by five months.

About a year after he stopped former WBO world junior welterweight titleholder Maurice Hooker, Ortiz was scheduled to face McKinson in March 2022 on a Golden Boy Promotions card in Los Angeles. Ortiz would have to withdraw from the fight a few days prior due to being diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis. According to the Centers for Disease Control, rhabdomyolysis is a rare muscle injury when damaged muscle tissue releases its proteins and electrolytes into the blood, which can damage the heart and kidneys. 

Trainer Robert Garcia explained the physical and emotional toll these health issues had on Ortiz, but after tests were run that allowed Ortiz to continue fighting, along with moving up in weight, is glad to see charge moving forward with his career. 

“I think when he started getting sick, and everyone knows what happened, I’m sure it went through his mind he wasn’t going to be able to fight (again),” Garcia told The Ring in a recent interview. “I think more with him, it was about rest (and) letting his body heal. He’s been looking really good in sparring in the gym (leading up to the fight).

“Our first fight back in January, he was looking good, but there were still questions about his health. But this camp, he’s been looking really good. I think the kid is going in the right direction. It looks like we’re able to fight four times this year. Hopefully, next would be late summer, then the fourth fight would be before the end of the year. I think that’s the direction we are going. He’s looking good. He’s looking fast, looking strong. I think he will be a champion at 154 (pounds), eventually moving up to 160 (pounds).”

Last year, there was the scheduled fight between Ortiz and contender Eimantas Stanionis, which was postponed three times last year. Stanionis had to back out of the March 18 date after undergoing an emergency appendectomy that January. Ortiz backed out of the April 29 date, again dealing with a recurrence of rhabdomyolysis. Ortiz pulled out of the July 8 date after reportedly falling ill and having to go to the hospital.

The 26-year-old Ortiz has a fight lined up on August 3. He is scheduled to face Tim Tszyu of Australia at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on the Riyadh Season undercard that will be headlined by Israil Madrimov defending his WBA world junior middleweight title against Ring Magazine and undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford. 

Garcia believes that the current version of Ortiz is already a legit contender at 154 pounds and can win a world title later this year.

“I think the weight division (Vergil is in) now, we’re going to see more than what we expected,” said Garcia. “Honestly, him trying to cut (weight) to 147 (pounds), it became impossible to the point he would get sick. Now at 154, and eventually 160, I think the boxing world will see more than what they expected at 140 and 147.

“I think he will be unstoppable.”

Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy

Ortiz has moved on from health issues of the last couple of years and wants to make a statement at the expense of Dulorme (26-6-1, 17 KOs), who is also coming off a long layoff, having not fought since July 2022. Ortiz is familiar with Fresno, having done therapy for rhabdomyolysis in recent months and hopes to give the fans Saturday something to cheer for. 

“I don’t have too much to say right now,” said Ortiz at Thursday’s press conference. “All everyone should know is that we had a great training camp, trained hard, and had incredible sparring. I like running. I ran a lot. I really don’t have anything else to say aside from that I love Fresno, and I can’t wait for you all to come out and watch our fights (on) Saturday night.”

Also at Friday’s weigh-in, Jose Ramirez weighed in at 141.8 pounds. Rances Barthelemy came in at 142 pounds.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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