Fredrick Lawson suggested Thursday that Vergil Ortiz Jr. might’ve underestimated what awaits him Saturday night.
Ortiz, who has knocked out every professional opponent in his 19-fight career, is listed by DraftKings sportsbook as a 25-1 favorite to beat Lawson in their 12-round, 156-pound fight at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The odds are so wide because the Ghanaian-born, Chicago-based Lawson (30-3, 22 KOs) has been knocked out three times and is seen as a tune-up type of foe for Ortiz, who will end a 17-month layoff in a main event DAZN will stream.
Not so, according to what Lawson stated during their press conference.
“I’ve had a very good camp leading up to this event,” Lawson said, according to his translator. “We’re well prepared. We’ve seen a few scripts going around, but we have a surprise for everyone on Saturday because we’ve come to spoil that script. We are going to spoil their party, believe us or not. Again, we’re looking forward to Saturday. … We’re gonna come with all guns blazing. Right? So, let’s all look forward to Saturday, and don’t blink.”
Lawson, 34, won both of his bouts in 2023. Charles Hatley (30-3-1, 21 KOs) stopped him in the 10th round of a welterweight fight, though, in September 2021 in Dallas, Hatley’s hometown.
His two previous knockout losses, both TKOs, came against Venezuela’s Juan Ruiz (then 22-4) in March 2019 in Philadelphia and Quebec’s Kevin Bizier (then 24-2) in November 2015 in Miami.
The 25-year-old Ortiz hasn’t fought since he stopped England’s Michael McKinson (26-1, 4 KOs) during the ninth round of their August 2022 bout at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs) has had four fights postponed or canceled over the past two years, three because of his physical ailments.
The McKinson match was postponed in March 2022 for four months because Ortiz battled rhabdomyolysis, a damaging muscle condition. A flareup of rhabdomyolysis also caused the second postponement of his shot at WBA world welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC) last year.
Their 147-pound championship clash was first postponed due to Stanionis’ appendectomy last January. Their ill-fated fight was postponed for the third time and ultimately scrapped for good when severe dehydration and heat exhaustion landed Ortiz in the hospital two days before they were supposed to square off July 8 at AT&T Center in San Antonio.
Ortiz took six weeks off from training to let his body recover. He also moved up to the junior middleweight division to avoid the damage done by squeezing down to the welterweight maximum of 147 pounds.
Oscar De La Hoya, Ortiz’s promoter, expects the Grand Prairie, Texas native to be the same ferocious knockout artist he was when he last fought. De La Hoya also anticipates that Lawson will provide more resistance than the lopsided odds suggest.
“This fight’s not gonna be easy for Vergil,” De La Hoya told a group of reporters after the press conference Thursday. “It’s not gonna be easy. I mean, [Lawson is] not gonna go anywhere. His opponent is right there, is strong, is powerful. This is a hell of a comeback fight for Vergil and, you know, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
DAZN will stream three undercard bouts before Ortiz opposes Lawson, starting 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.