Vergil Ortiz Jr. ended his 17-month layoff in less than a round Saturday night.
The hard-hitting, 25-year-old Ortiz hurt huge underdog Fredrick Lawson with a jab and stopped him just 2:33 into the first round of their main event at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Ortiz, who fought above the welterweight limit of 147 pounds for the first time, kept his perfect knockout streak intact (20-0, 20 KOs).
The win wasn’t particularly satisfying for Ortiz, however, because referee Tony Weeks drew criticism for halting the action too early.
The Ghanaian-born, Portland-based Lawson lost by knockout or technical knockout for the fourth time in his career (30-4, 22 KOs).
With just under 40 seconds to go in the opening round, Ortiz buckled Lawson’s legs by landing a hard jab. An aggressive Ortiz moved in to finish off Lawson and landed multiple body shots.
That’s when Weeks stepped between them and halted their fight because he said Lawson’s eyes rolled back in his head.
Lawson protested the second strange stoppage by Weeks over the past 7½ months. Weeks previously drew the ire of boxing fans and media because he peculiarly, prematurely stopped the Rolly Romero-Ismael Barroso bout in the ninth round last May 13 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
Coincidentally, Barroso dropped Ohara Davies twice and won by first-round knockout on the undercard Saturday night. Barroso won the WBA interim super lightweight title and secured a rematch with Romero, who was in attendance.
Before he finally fought again Saturday night, albeit briefly, Ortiz withdrew from his previous two fights, both against WBA world welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis. He pulled out the first time last March due to rhabdomyolysis, a damaging muscle condition, and the second time six months ago because severe dehydration and heat exhaustion landed Ortiz in the hospital two days before he was scheduled to face Lithuania’s Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC) on July 8 at AT&T Center in San Antonio.
Ortiz was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis in March 2022, when he was forced to postpone his fight with McKinson for four months. The Grand Prairie, Texas native told BoxingScene.com recently that three specialists informed him that he is no longer afflicted with rhabdomyolysis.
DraftKings sportsbook listed Ortiz as a 25-1 favorite to beat Lawson.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.