Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Michael McKinson press conference quotes

Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Michael McKinson

University of Southern California’s Galen Center in Los Angeles, USA – 19 March 2022

Undefeated, WBO International Welterweight Champion, Vergil Ortiz Jr. (18-0, 18 KOs), of Grand Prairie, Texas, and Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya, hosted a special press event today at the Galen Center to promote the upcoming bout between Vergil Ortiz, Jr. and #3 WBO ranked welterweight Michael “The Problem” McKinson (21-0, 2 KOs) of Portsmouth, Great Britain. The pair are set to collide on Saturday, March 19, at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center in Los Angeles. The 12-round fight for Ortiz, Jr.’s WBO International Welterweight title will stream live, worldwide, exclusively on DAZN.

Below are what Vergil and Oscar had to say about the upcoming.

VERGIL ORTIZ, JR., WBO INTERNATIONAL WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION:

“I feel awesome putting a card in LA. I have a lot of fans here in LA that have been asking me on social media to come back, and I am happy that we can do that. I am looking forward to putting on a good show at the Galen Center.

“I always train to go the distance in every fight. I don’t go into the ring looking for the knockout. If the opportunity comes to finish the contest with a knockout, I will take it.

“I would love to fight at the very least three times this year. After this fight, get back in the ring as soon as possible stay active. That’s how I feel, the sharpest.

“My dad has been training me the whole time alongside Hector Beltran. He’s the one that is always on my a** making sure that I am doing everything right. Now that we have added Manny Robles to the corner, he brings experience and a different point of view. He’s taken fighters like Oscar Valdez and Andy Ruiz to world title fights, and hopefully, we can do the same.”

OSCAR DE LA HOYA, CHAIRMAN AND CEO GOLDEN BOY:

“As a promoter, we have to knock on a lot of doors to get our fighters a fight, and it’s a dream come true when fighters like Michael McKinson want to face one of our guys. Vergil is in a very unique position, being 18-0, 18KOs. World champions know that he’s dangerous; world champions know that if they get in the ring with him, there will be a huge possibility that they are going to lose. So it surprised me that McKinson was knocking on Vergil’s door, on our door. It just goes to show you that when you are fighting at this level, you are going to cross paths with great fighters who want to fight the best.

“Vergil has his father who knows the in’s and out’s. He has trained him all his life. It was a breath of fresh air to hear what they were thinking, to come to LA, which has excellent fighters and great sparring. Manny has the experience and excellent knowledge that can be a perfect second voice for Vergil’s father, who is at the forefront of Vergil’s training.

“Vergil is just getting better and better, and better. I tell every world champion to fight Vergil now. Fight him now because if you wait a year or two, it will only get worse for you because Vergil is very young and just getting better and better. He’s knocking on the door of these champions, so it’s going to be very interesting on who he fights next.”

Tickets for the event go on sale now and are priced at $150, $75, $50, and $25, not including applicable service charges. Tickets will be available for purchase at www.galencenter.org or www.goldenboypromotions.com. Please note that LADPH guidelines and other protocols relating to admission requirements will be in place for this event, which includes that all guests age two and older will have to provide proof of complete vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result within 24 hours for an antigen test or 48 hours for a PCR test.

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