- 22-year-old
Vergil Ortiz Jr. is one ofboxing 's most thunderous punchers. - Ortiz Jr. is one of the sport's youngest stars, and is just days away from his biggest test.
- Before his Saturday bout with Maurice Hooker, he told Insider the secret to his knockout punches.
Vergil Ortiz Jr., 22, is like other young American men his age.
He wakes up in the mornings and answers questions from his grandma about what he wants to eat. He drinks a lot of coffee. He plays guitar, the piano, and spends time on his PS5.
But there is one aspect of Ortiz Jr.'s life that separates him from everybody else.
The
The power-puncher returns to the ring Saturday for the biggest test of his career, competing in a welterweight match against Maurice Hooker at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ahead of the bout, which will be broadcast on DAZN, Ortiz Jr. told Insider about life as a heavy-hitter.
He said he wasn't aware of quite how different he is to most fighters until a Golden Gloves tournament in Texas.
"I was stopping everyone … every night," he told us of his amateur days. "It was back-to-back-to-back, and it was honestly crazy how often it was happening.
"Everyone talked about it," Ortiz Jr. said. "I would say they were impressed, and I was too, to be honest. I wasn't expecting all that. Eventually, I learned how to harness it, and use it when I needed to."
Ortiz Jr. is wary of falling in love with his power
After four fights in 2019 that included a particularly thumping win over Mauricio Herrera, Ortiz Jr. has come to be regarded as the best prospect in boxing.
He has that acclaim for good reason.
He has fast feet, stands his ground, and fires all kinds of shots at his opponent's head until they can no longer stand, and end up finished on the floor.
When people get hit cleanly by his punches they have all kinds of reactions. Some can't stay upright because their legs buckle. Others get their necks snapped back and collapse because they're so dazed and confused.
His overhand right is an especially nasty weapon, but he's finished bouts just as well with his left hook, his uppercut, and even his jab.
Ortiz Jr. told Insider that he can even tell from the crack his gloved fist makes when it's whacked into his opponent's face, whether it will have had the intended effect.
"You can tell when you land a knockout punch, or at least you can tell it'll start the process to get the knockout. You can really feel it," he said. "It's a different punch."
Ortiz Jr. is trying not to fall in love with his power, which is a trap many big hitters fall into, he said.
And so he likes to vary how he seeks finishes. "It can be a lot of different things - whether I'm laying traps, setting them up, or just doing a certain pattern [of punches] where you're trying to time them.
"Or you can just do it the old-fashioned way by overpowering your opponent, simply. But you've got to combine all of them," he said.
Ortiz Jr. is trained by the accomplished Robert Garcia, a former world boxing champion who has coached Mikey Garcia, Nonito Donaire, Marcos Maidana, Abner Mares, and Brandon Rios out of his southern California gyms.
He has also worked through routines with his father, Vergil Ortiz Sr., who showed his son hours of video footage featuring Latin America's superstar boxers like Miguel Cotto, Sergio Martinez, and Golden Boy founder Oscar de la Hoya.
Regardless of who he's looked up to in the past, and how he trains with Garcia, Ortiz Jr. is focusing on adding further skills to his boxing so he can become more well-rounded in the years ahead.
"It's learning not to fall in love with the power, which some fighters do, especially if they have a lot of it," Ortiz Jr. told us.
"They think they're going to knock out everyone. I know I'll eventually meet someone I won't be able to put away - he'll just be too tough.
"I kind of already went through that. In my fifth fight, I knocked the guy [Angel Sarinana] down in the first round, didn't put him away at first, and I actually had to start using my head rather than my muscles."
Ortiz Jr. tired somewhat by the second, but still finished the fight in the third round, preserving his 100% knockout ratio. "So I got over that challenge and it's made me an even better fighter today.
"My most satisfying opponent to finish was Mauricio Herrera because I didn't think I was going to stop him.
"He's a world-class vet who has been in there with the best. And though he didn't get the decisions [results] he wanted [in previous fights], he was also talking smack before our fight, saying I wasn't ready.
"So that kind of made it a lot better, too."
Ortiz Jr. puts his 100% knockout record on the line once again
Ortiz Jr. fights Hooker this weekend and he's well aware that it will be his greatest challenge yet.
"Mighty Mo" Hooker has only been beaten once in 31 bouts, and even won the WBO super lightweight championship in 2018 having beaten Terry Flanagan by split decision.
"I believe this is a new level for me, fighting Hooker," Ortiz Jr. told us.
"He has a reach advantage, technically has a lot more experience than I do in the ring, and he's in his prime right now at 31 years old. Those are the things he's got on me.
"The expectation for me, on myself, is to win," he said. "I want to win, and I want to win in good fashion.
"You can win and not look good and you'll have people questioning whether you're still the real thing, or not. I just want to win and look good, and that can include getting a knockout though that's not really what I'm looking for. It has to come naturally, that's when knockouts come best."
Insider asked Ortiz Jr. who he feels he can forge a future rivalry with in the super lightweight and welterweight divisions, but the fighter was loathe to give anybody a mention.
"I don't think anyone deserves that spot," he said.
As Saturday's fight is for a minor WBO title, it is likely Golden Boy Promotions will be looking to navigate one of their superstar athletes into a high-stakes match with the three-weight world champion Terence Crawford, Top Rank's current ruler with the WBO at 147-pounds.
If Ortiz Jr. has his way, it would be a match that is made this year.
"I've been perfect for these past 16 fights and believe I have earned a title shot," Ortiz Jr. told us. "By the end of this year, I hope to become a world champion."