Vergil Ortiz Jr. Continues KO Streak at Fantasy Springs

In a night that saw prizefighting return to California, top contenders Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada proved they are both ready for world title challenges.

Power punching Ortiz (16-0, 16 KOs) returned to the prize ring in a setting void of fans against the courageous Samuel Vargas (31-6-2, 14 KOs) at Fantasy Springs Casino. Despite the lack of fans, the punches were flying.

“Honestly I didn’t really notice it. I’m just so focused on the fight. It didn’t make a huge difference,” said Ortiz about the lack of crowd noise.

Ortiz showed off his agility and offensive ring generalship as he pummeled Vargas who had before faced world champions Errol Spence Jr. and Amir Khan. Despite his experience he was unable to utilize it much to his advantage.

Vargas tried to work the slender body of Ortiz with body shots but absorbed blow after blow to the head for his effort. The pounding mounted up but Vargas refused to submit.

“I hit him to the body honestly so many times I wondered why he didn’t go down,” said Ortiz whose father Vergil Ortiz replaced Robert Garcia in the corner because he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ortiz continued to vary his attack by attacking the body in one round, then focusing on the head with long head-snapping jabs. Vargas could never could get a solid bead on what direction to take but he continued fighting as hard as possible.

Finally, in the seventh round, Ortiz unleashed a vicious attack that included more than 18 consecutive unanswered damaging blows. In my experience any fighter who absorbs that kind of punishment could suffer deadly consequences. In this fight, referee Jack Reiss also recognized the potential damage and wisely stopped the fight at 2:58 of round seven. It gave Ortiz his 16th consecutive knockout victory.

“Against a guy like that, I think I did good. He just brought it out of me. He was the toughest guy to date,” said Ortiz.

Ortiz said he only wants to fight the best welterweights in the world whoever they are.

Seniesa KO Win

Perhaps the best women fighter without a world title Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada (19-0, 8 KOs) showed why as she blasted out Miranda Adkins (5-1, 5 KOs) with a rapid-fire combination that left her unconscious for more than a few minutes. Needless to say, it was one of the quickest knockouts ever seen in a female clash and ended in a mere seven seconds.

Estrada was soft-spoken after the victory that was in defense of the WBC Silver light flyweight title.

“I give Adkins so much credit and so much respect. She was the only one willing to accept the fight,” said Estrada. “We tried to get other world champions and current champions and that wasn’t able to happen and Miranda was the only one that stepped up and accepted the fight.”

Other Bouts

Shades of Shane “Sugar” Mosley.

Recent Golden Boy Promotions signee Shane Mosley Jr. (16-3) cranked out a solid victory over Colorado’s always tough Jeremy Ramos (11-9) after eight rugged rounds. All three judges scored it for Mosley: 80-72 twice and 79-73.

Mosley participated in the latest Contender television series and performed well. Against Ramos he showed his usual resilience and a good understanding on working the body. No knockdowns were scored but it proved to be a good test for the son of the man who fought Oscar De La Hoya in the first world championship fight ever held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Bantams

A battle between Texas bantamweights saw Hector Valdez (13-0) keep the pressure on the crafty defensive-minded Josue Morales (11-12-4) to win by unanimous decision after eight rounds.

No knockdowns were scored but the Dallas product Valdez kept firing three and four-punch combinations to keep Houston’s Morales covering up against the offensive-minded fighter.

Morales never seemed hurt but was unable to mount any kind of offense that would bother Valdez who trains with Robert Garcia in nearby Riverside, California. After eight rounds two judges scored it 60-52 and another 59-53 for Valdez.

Welters

Northern California’s Evan Sanchez (8-0, 6 KOs) out-hustled Issouf Kinda (18-5) with his southpaw stance and aggressiveness to win by unanimous decision after six rounds in a welterweight fight. A knockdown scored from a counter right hook floored Kinda in the fourth round.

Sanchez loaded up too often and that allowed Kinda room to counter with single right shots. But they weren’t enough to offset the taller fighter’s pressure over the six rounds.

All three judges scored it for Sanchez: 59-54, 58-55 and 60-53.

“I felt a little different. I’m usually knocking them out in the first three rounds,” said Sanchez. “I really wanted to stop him.”

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