against a skilful undefeated
Ukrainian southpaw Vasyl Lomachenko, former featherweight and lightweight world champion and one of the top five 135-pounders of the moment, will return to action on Saturday at Madison Square Garden Theater, New York, after a 16-month voluntary rest to face the little-known Jamaine “El Técnico” Ortiz.
Lomachenko is a veteran and tough fighter who has a record of 16 wins, two losses, no draws and 11 knockouts and is rated as the best amateur boxer in history, based on the following summary:
Loma, as he is known, was featherweight and lightweight Olympic champion (Beijing-2008, London 2012) and made the leap to professional boxing with Top Rank, who was captivated by his amateur record, Loma won 396 of his 397 fights, his only loss was before a points defeat in 2007 to Albert Selinov, from whom he took revenge in two subsequent fights. He was also European and world featherweight champion at the 2007 World Championships, while he was world lightweight king in 2009 and 2012.
9 YEARS OF SUCCESS
When Lomachenko entered the professional ranks nine years ago, he did it fighting 12 rounds, on October 21, 2013 in a fight for the WBO international belt and defeated American Jose Ramirez. His second fight was for the WBO 126 lbs. belt against Orlando “Siri” Salido from Sonora (who lost the belt on the scales), who surprisingly beat him on points.
He then defeated Gary Russell for the WBO featherweight title, equaling the historical record of Thailand’s Saensak Muangsurin, “The Devil’s Shadow”, who was super lightweight king with only three fights, on July 15, 1975 in Bangkok with a KOT8 over Pedro “Perico” Fernandez from Aragon.
After three defenses of that belt, Loma knocked out Puerto Rican Roman “Rocky” Martinez in 5 and was crowned WBO 130 lbs. super featherweight champion. He added to his record 4 successful defenses of that belt and on May 12, 4 years ago, he faced Venezuelan Jorge “Niño de Oro” Linares for the WBA lightweight crown, a tough battle in which he recovered from a sixth round knockdown with a KOT in the 10th, in which Linares fell in the middle of a melee.
Linares was followed by Puerto Rico’s Jose Pedraza (DU12) and England’s Anthony Crolla (KOT4), and then beat WBA and WBO belts and the unowned WBC belt.
But all three belts were short-lived for Lomachenko: he lost them to Honduran-born American Teofimo Lopez, who won an upset decision in October two years ago. After the setback Lomachenko got back on track with a win over Ghana’s Richard Commey (DU12) and in his October 2021 outpointed Japan’s Masayoshi Nakatani by a 9-round knockout. This last victory consolidated him among the best lightweights in the world alongside Lopez, the undefeated Gervonta Davis (WBA champion) and the also undefeated Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney, who is the undisputed WBC, WBO, IBF, The Ring and World Association super champion.
It is with this record that the Eurasian southpaw will be facing the young American Jamaine Ortiz, nicknamed “The Scientist” for his skill and fast action – 26 years old – this Saturday, 8 years younger than the enemy-virtues that have allowed him to go undefeated (certainly against opponents of little or no notoriety) in 16 fights of which he has won half before the limit, which shows him as capable of overcoming obstacles by any route and of whom there is not much more to say because there are no known names on his record. Ortiz, who was a carpenter as a teenager and who plans to study medicine when he retires (he has said he will not be in boxing much longer), will surely put all his efforts and resources to overturn the forecasts that point to him as a sure loser against an opponent of Loma’s stature, much superior in theory, we emphasize.
