Ortiz vs McKinson Now a WBA Title Eliminator

The stakes just got higher for Vergil Ortiz of Grand Prairie and Mikey "The Problem" McKinson of Portsmouth, England. Saturday's main event at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth between unbeaten welterweight prospects is now a WBA title eliminator. Meaning the winner will be the mandatory challenger for the WBA world title. Ortiz is ranked highly for the WBA and WBO world titles. A win for Ortiz will mean he will be ranked number one in the WBO, a belt held by Terence Crawford, and the mandatory challenger for the WBA held by Errol Spence of Dallas. McKinson said he "found out 5 or 10 minutes before they announced it." Mckinson added he "was not surprised" and that he'd be happy to return to Texas to fight Spence, should he beat Ortiz on Saturday night.

Ortiz is considered by many to be the best young prospect in the sport, and an all-Texas shootout with Spence has long been dreamed of by Texas fight fans, with AT&T stadium being the absolutely ideal home for the fight. Spence, who also holds the WBC and IBF titles, is rumored to be in heavy discussion for a unification bout with Crawford. Unifications typically take precedence over mandatories. However, that fight is far from being made. If that fight does not come off, Ortiz will be in a position to possibly pick which of the belts he wants to fight for. He'd be ranked in the top spot by both organizations. Ortiz and trainer Manny Robles both expressed no preference and were more than open to fighting either of the two welterweight champions.

Avanesyan out as Vergil Ortiz's opponent. McKinson might be back in!

Vergil Ortiz vs Michael McKinson was on then it was off and now maybe it could be back on.  Ortiz was supposed to fight David Avanesyan on August 6th, but now that fight looks to be off and McKinson may be back in.  Ortiz’s manager, Rick Mirigian, explained that David Avanesyan never sent the contract back after agreeing to terms. Saying “Golden Boy did everything they wanted, accommodated their every crazy need they asked for, and Vergil even kicked in some money to help make the fight. They agreed to the deal and then never would send the actual contract back.” and that Michael McKinson 22-0 (2 KO) will likely step in. The 28-year-old British southpaw was meant to fight Ortiz (18-0, 18 KO) on Mar. 19 in Los Angeles, but the fight was scrapped when Ortiz was diagnosed with rhymbosis. McKinson remained on the card and defeated Alex Martin via a lackluster decision.

 Ortiz has not fought since August of last year when he destroyed former world title challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas in eight rounds and dropped him a grand title of five times. Avanesyan was viewed as a decent opponent but a step back from  Kavaliauskas, who stopped Avanesyan in six rounds back in 2018. However, he was still viewed as far more of a threat to the 18-0 Texan than McKinson, who despite being undefeated and sporting a 22-0 record is thought to be tailor made and does not nearly have the resume to make people think he can stand up to Ortiz. However, McKinson's promoter, Eddie Heard, was quite confident that his fighter could do quite well, due to his unorthodox style.

The fight is still scheduled for August 9th and was thought to be held at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, however, that is not confirmed.  Ortiz fought at that venue back in 2021 when he stopped Maurice Hooker in for seven rounds, in an all-DFW shootout. The fight drew a fairly large and intense crowd. It would make sense to put the fight back at the Dickie's Arena. However, that has not been confirmed. Ortiz is currently ranked #1 by the WBO

Vergil Ortiz Withdraws from McKinson Fight; Recovering in Hospital

Golden Boy publicists released shattering news today. All-world welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz of Grand Prairie is hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis and had to withdraw from Saturday's fight with Michael McKinson at the Galen Center at the grounds of USC  in Los Angeles. The 12-round bout was due to headline Golden Boy’s card on DAZN. It is unclear at the moment if the card will be canceled, rescheduled or will proceed with a different main event. 

Golden Boy said in an announcement that after Ortiz was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis he was “recovering well in hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.”  It was later reported that Ortiz was sent home and is going well Rhabdomyolysis, is sometimes shortened to rhabdo and can be a serious condition that occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases its proteins and electrolytes into the blood. causing serious heart and kidney damage that can lead all the way to death in its most severe cases.

 Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya wished the undefeated Texan well saying “We wish Vergil a very quick and speedy recovery,” “As fighters, our first instinct is to fight whatever we have and tough it out. It takes a lot of courage to admit that something is wrong and get the care that you need. We are confident that we will be seeing Vergil in the ring again very soon.”

Ortiz has not fought since August when he stopped Egidijus Kavaliauskas in eight rounds at The Star in Frisco. This was the same night that Joshua Franco, of San Antonio, successfully defended his WBA Super Flyweight belt against Andrew Moloney in Oklahoma, which in part led to Ortiz splitting with hall of fame trainer Robert Garcia. Ortiz was training with Manny Robles for this camp. 

Golden Boy is looking to find a last-minute replacement for McKinson (21-0, 2 KOs), 27, who has been in Los Angeles for over a week and is already nearly on weight.

Vergil Ortiz set to Return

Grand Prairie native, the former prospect of the year, and unbeaten welterweight phenom Vergil Ortiz appear to be set to return. Although no date or venue has been announced, multiple sources have reported that Ortiz will return to the ring and battle unbeaten British prospect Micahel McKinson. Both prospects are undefeated. Ortiz sports a perfect 18-0 (18) record and thee 27-year-old McKinson has a record of  21-0 but has shockingly won only two of those fights within the distance. 

McKinson held the WBO European welterweight title from 2019 to 2020 and currently holds the WBO Global title. he is trained by his father Michael Ballingall and most recently fought in Eddie's Garden in Brentwood, England, and defeated  Przemyslaw Runowski via wide decision. He scored his last win via stoppage all the way back in 2017 when he stopped Colin Lyles via 6th round TKO. 

Vergil Ortiz last fought in August as well and was challenged early on by Egidijus Kavaliauskas but rallied to score four knockdowns and secure an 8th round TKO. Ortiz was formerly trained by the legendary Robert Garcia, but the two ended the relationship back in November. Garcia traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma to work Josh Franco's corner, and Vergil was trained by his dad and other members of the Garcia family. It is unclear exactly who will be working Ortiz's corner for the McKinson fight.

Last month, the WBC ordered Ortiz its #1 ranked welterweight to face #3 David Avanesyan in a final eliminator.  Rick Mirigian the manager of Ortiz informed the WBC to turn the fight down.  Although there has been no official word as to whether it’s an eliminator, however seeing as Ortiz is also ranked #1 by the WBO and McKinson is ranked third by the same organization, it seems like that's the direction the WBO will go with it. There's no date but it is expected to be televised on DAZN and will be the main event.