Lightweight contender Vasiliy Lomachenko defeated Jamaine Ortiz by a unanimous decision in a 12-round bout.
The official scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111, all for Lomachenko.
Ortiz boxed well for three quarters of the fight, flicking a nice jab, landing his share of power shots and using his feet to frustrate Lomachenko.
However, the veteran stayed after Ortiz, began to catch him in the middle of the round and then took charge down the stretch.
Lomachenko hadn’t fought in 10 months because of the war in his country, Ukraine.
You can read a full report here.
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Round 12
Lomachenko finishes strong. My guess is that he won the last several rounds to pull out what will be a fairly close decision. It turned out to be a good night for Lomachenko. And Ortiz also made a strong statement regardless of what the scorecards say.
Round 11
Lomachenko is controlling the championship rounds. He landed some big blows mid-round, at least one of which seemed to hurt Ortiz. Ortiz isn’t giving up but he isn’t getting much done now.
Round 10
Lomachenko really fought with urgency that round. And he had success, landing some eye-catching power shots. Ortiz is tired but not giving in; he had some decent moments too that round. Lomachenko won it, though.
Round 9
Tough round to score. Ortiz was the busier puncher and he landed a number of his shots. Lomachenko landed the cleaner blows, the ones that stood out the most. That was essentially a 50-50 round.
Round 8
Good round for Ortiz. He was more active than Lomachenko, beating him to the punch, pushing the action most of the time. And Ortiz isn’t moving as much as he had; he’s more flatfooted. He held several times when Lomachenko got close.
Round 7
Close round. Ortiz still doing his thing, although he switched from orthodox to southpaw for most of the round. He still jabbing, still moving, still giving Lomachenko some problems. Lomachenko is staying after him, though.
Round 6
Lomachenko kept up the pressure, although he didn’t land quite as much. Ortiz is fighting hard, still giving his veteran opponent some problems. However, the underdog’s left eye is closing, which could be a problem.
Round 5
Good round for Lomachenko. It was as if he said, “OK, I’m taking charge now.” He outworked Ortiz, his punches were accurate, he was in control. Ortiz was competitive but the tide could be turning.
Round 4
The fight has been more competitive the past two rounds, as Lomachenko is busier. However, Ortiz had another good round. He beat Lomachenko to the punch, did well inside, continued to move. You have to think Lomachenko will turn the tide but …
Round 3
Mostly the same. Ortiz sticking, moving, frustrating Lomachenko for most of the round. However, Lomachenko had his best moment with about 45 seconds left in the round, landing a right hand that got Ortiz’s attention.
Round 2
Another good round for Ortiz. Still jabbing, mixing in power shots here and there and moving well. He’s an elusive target. Lomachenko asserted himself to some degree but he really didn’t get much done.
Round 1
Ortiz probably won the opening round with his jab, which is nice. Neither guy really did much beyond that. There were no eye-catching power shots. For Lomachenko, it was a feel out round.
***
Here we go.
The fighters are making their ring walks. We’re only a few minute away from Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Jamaine Ortiz.
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Featherweight contender Robeisy Ramirez (11-1, 7 KOs) of Cuba stopped Jose Romero (26-3, 9 KOs) of Argentina in the ninth round of a scheduled 10-round bout.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:20 of the round.
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Heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. (4-0, 4 KOs) of Tulare, California, knocked out Ahmed Hefny (13-3, 5 KOs) in the third round of a scheduled six-rounder.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:32 of the round.
The Olympic silver medalist in Tokyo last year put his Egyptian opponent down in each of the three rounds.
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Vasiliy Lomachenko is set to make his return against Jamaine Ortiz on Saturday at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York (ESPN+).
The former pound-for-pound king is 2-0 since he lost a unanimous decision to Teofimo Lopez in October 2020, which cost the Ukrainian his undisputed 135-pound championship.
Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) hasn’t fought since last December before of the war in his country.
Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs) is coming off the biggest victory in his career, a unanimous decision over former titleholder Jamel Herring this past May.
Boxing Junkie will post live round-by-round analysis and then the final result. Simply come back to this post after each round and at the end of the fight.
We also will post results of other featured fights on the card.
And, finally, full coverage — a fight story, photo gallery and more analysis — will follow on separate posts.
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