Fight Week: KO artists Vergil Ortiz, Edgar Berlanga return to ring

FIGHT WEEK

KO artists Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Edgar Berlanga will try to stay undefeated on separate cards Saturday night.

When: Saturday, March 19
Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
Where: USC Galen Center, Los Angeles
TV/Stream: DAZN
Division: Welterweight
Rounds: 12
At stake: No major titles
Pound-for-pound ranking: None
Odds: Ortiz 8½-1 favorite
Also on the card: Alexis Rocha vs. Blair Cobbs, welterweights
Prediction: Ortiz KO 10
Background: Ortiz is staying busy until he receives his inevitable shot at a major 147-pound title. The 23-year-old Texan is coming off an impressive eighth-round knockout of Egidijus Kavaliauskas last August in Frisco, Texas. That was his seventh fight as a welterweight, a run that also includes consecutive victories over Brad Solomon, Samuel Vargas and Maurica Hooker. No opponent has gone past eight rounds against the former 140-pound titleholder. He’s ranked in the Top 4 by all four major sanctioning bodies, including No. 1 by the WBC (Errol Spence Jr.) and WBO (Terence Crawford). The unbeaten McKinson has an unusual record in that he has stopped only two of his 21 opponents. However, the 27-year-old southpaw from England is a good boxer and athlete with an excellent right jab. He also last fought in August, when he easily outpointed Przemyslaw Runowski in a 10-rounder in Brentwood, England. McKinson will be making his U.S. debut.

Also on the card: Xander Zayas vs. Quincy LaVallais, junior middleweights; John Bauza vs. Tony Luis, junior welterweights
Prediction: Berlanga KO 10
Background: Berlanga got off to a remarkable start in his career, stopping his first 16 opponents in the first round, but he has looked human in his last two outings. Demond Nicholson took the 24-year-old New Yorker the eight-round distance in April of last year, although Berlanga won easily. Then, in his first 10-rounder last October, he survived a knockdown in Round 9 to win a unanimous-decision victory over surprisingly stubborn Marcelo Esteban Coceres. Berlanga is ranked No. 6 by the WBO and No. 13 by the WBA, meaning a title shot is on the horizon if he continues to win. Rolls might also test Berlanga. The 37-year-old Canadian is best known for getting blown out in four rounds by Gennadiy Golovkin – his only elite foe – in June 2019 but he’s a well-schooled boxer-puncher who should give Berlanga some resistance. Rolls rebounded from the loss to Triple-G by stopping Gilberto Perez dos Santos in January 2020 and Christopher Brooker this past December.

Also fighting this week:

THURSDAY

Cem Kilic (15-1, 10 KOs) of Germany will take on Antonio Hernandez (6-12-2, 4 KOs) of Kansas City, Kansas, in a super middleweight fight in Montebello, California (UFC Fight Pass).

SATURDAY

IBF flyweight titleholder Sunny Edwards (17-0, 4 KOs) of England will defend his title against Muhammad Waseem (12-1, 8 KOs) of Pakistan in Dubai (no U.S. TV). Also, Regis Prograis (26-1, 22 KOs) of New Orleans will face Tyrone McKenna (22-2-1, 6 KOs) of Northern Ireland in a junior welterweight fight.
Masamichi Yabuki (13-3, 12 KOs) of Japan will defend his WBC junior flyweight belt against countryman Kenshiro Teraji (18-1, 10 KOs) in Kyoto (no U.S. TV).

Yamileth Mercado (18-3, 5 KOs) of Mexico will defend her WBC junior featherweight title against countrywoman Zulina Munoz (53-4-2, 30 KOs) in Mexico (no U.S. TV).

Australian Sam Soliman (47-16-1, 19) will face countryman Jesse White (6-2, 0 KOs) in a middleweight bout in Melbourne, Australia (FITE).
Jacob Ng (15-0, 11 KOs) will take on Billy Dib (47-6, 27 KOs) in a lightweight battle of Australians in Broadbeach, Australia (FITE).