With fight week well underway I thought I'd highlight a prospect in the world of boxing before his upcoming fight this weekend. It is slated to be a very busy Cinco de Mayo weekend for combat sports, as this Saturday fight fans are treated to 3 different fight cards by DAZN, Top Rank, and the UFC. The most high profile bout is undoubtedly the headliner on DAZN between Canelo Alvarez and Danny Jacobs and it is on that same card where we can find the prospect in question.

He is 21 year old boxer from Grand Prairie, Texas, Vergil Ortiz Jr and he trains out of RGBA in Riverside California under the tutelage of his dad, Vergil Ortiz Sr, and 3 time Ring Magazine Trainer of the Year Robert Garcia. Standing at 5'10" Ortiz looks to be a very promising young fighter that is already being touted as a future world champ by his trainers and fans alike. He is very skilled as he has both the abilities to box on the outside where he uses his height and speed to land crisp jabs and counter hooks, but he also likes to bounce into range where he unloads vicious combinations. This fight recently got promoted to the co-mainevent spot as Lemieux and Pablo Cesar Cano had to pull out of their fights with injuries, so this will definitely be a great oppurtunity for Vergil to showcase his skills and fan friendly style in front of a bigger audience.

This Saturday he has his 13th professional bout and he will be looking to add to his perfect 12 - 0 (12 KO) record as he makes a step up in competition to face the crafty veteran, Mauricio Herrera (25 - 7, 8 KO) in a ten round fight at welterweight (147 lbs). Ortiz usually competes at super lightweight (140 lbs) but this will be his first fight at welterweight and he plans to return to 140 after this bout. He did mention some disappointment in his last outing even though he was able to get the stoppage in 5 rounds (RTD) and he attributes that to the weight cut he had to do in order to make the 140 lb limit on 3 weeks notice. His opponent has never been stopped either so it will be interesting to see if Vergil can keep the hype going with another stoppage against a slick opponent who has faced high caliber fighters like Danny Garcia, Jose Benavidez Jr., Sadam Ali, and Ruslan Provodnikov. I know I'm looking forward to see this fight and what the future holds for the young Vergil Ortiz Jr.

Boxing / fight night

One to Watch: Vergil Ortiz Jr.

One to Watch: Vergil Ortiz Jr.

One to Watch: Vergil Ortiz Jr.