When it happened again, this time much closer to a fight than the two previous instances, Vergil Ortiz Jr. understandably wondered whether he would ever fight again.
Severely dehydrated and suffering from heat exhaustion, Ortiz was on his way to a hospital in San Antonio, distraught because his shot at WBA world welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis was postponed for the third time early in July. It was also the third time in 15 months that physical issues caused the highly regarded knockout artist to pull out of a fight.
“When everything went down, right before I went to the hospital, at that point I thought my career was over,” Ortiz told BoxingScene.com in advance of his return to the ring against Fredrick Lawson on Saturday night in Las Vegas. “I was just like, ‘Man, again? F—! What’s going on? What’s wrong with me? I’m over here doing the best that I can, putting in 110 percent, but am I not able to do it anymore?’ That question did cross my mind a few times. And I broke down crying, just not knowing what was next.”
What was next were trips to see three specialists Ortiz hoped could conclude what was wrong with him. Those doctors determined that Ortiz didn’t suffer from another flareup of rhabdomyolysis – a complex, rare muscle condition with which he was diagnosed early in 2022.
Rhabdomyolysis caused Ortiz to postpone two fights – a bout with England’s Michael McKinson in March 2022 and his ill-fated fight versus Stanionis in March 2023. Ortiz was relieved to learn, though, that rhabdomyolysis wasn’t the cause of his second withdrawal from the Stanionis bout.
The 25-year-old Ortiz took approximately six weeks off from training, which was difficult mentally for an undefeated fighter who has long taken pride in his work ethic.
“It’s been hard,” Ortiz said. “You know, when the fight first got postponed, I was let down. I was expecting to win my first world title fight and have just a big year. And 2023 just wasn’t my year. I had to keep myself distracted by doing things I liked. I started going to concerts. I started trying to get out the house a little bit. I was trying different spots to eat … not doing the same thing over and over, you know, because it was starting to get like ‘Groundhog’s Day,’ you know, just the same sh!t over and over again. So, I just tried to change it up. Music did really help me a lot, though.”
Returning to the gym was what truly uplifted Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs), who knew he had to move up from the welterweight limit of 147 pounds to the 154-pound division to avoid another physical breakdown during training. The Grand Prairie, Texas native admitted, however, that he won’t fully feel like he can take the next step in his career until he gets through this 12-round main event DAZN will stream worldwide from Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
“Let me get this win and know 110 percent that I’m good, and I’ll be like, ‘OK,’ because I’m still in that process right now,” said Ortiz, who hasn’t fought since he stopped McKinson in the ninth round of their August 2022 bout at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. “I’ve gotta get through this fight. … Just to get the full confidence back in myself and my ability, that is gonna be answered on Saturday.”
DraftKings sportsbook lists Ortiz as a 25-1 favorite to beat Ghana’s Lawson (30-3, 22 KOs), whose three losses each came by technical knockout. DAZN’s undercard coverage is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.