Vergil Ortiz Jr bumped to co-feature on Canelo-Jacobs card

The card has been reshuffled a bit, but it’s otherwise all the same.

With David Lemieux out of his scheduled fight with John Ryder, top junior welterweight prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr has been bumped to the co-feature slot on the May 4 Canelo-Jacobs card, where he’ll face veteran Mauricio Herrera in a 10-round bout.

Canelo vs Jacobs will stream live on DAZN.

Ortiz, 21, has been perfect so far as a pro, at least as far as the results go, facing 12 and stopping them all. He last fought on Jan. 26 in Houston, stopping Jesus Valdez after five rounds.

“This is a great opportunity for fans all over the world to get to know me,” said Ortiz. “Everyone will be watching this event, so I look forward to showing boxing fans what I’m made of.”

Ortiz may be young and confident, having blitzed through everyone thus far, but he’s very aware of what he’s getting into with Herrera (24-8, 7 KO), a crafty guy who has never been stopped.

“It’s very hard to look good against Mauricio Herrera,” he said. “World champions have fought him and have looked bad. If I can look good and be the first to ever stop him, then I’ll be making a big statement.”

The 38-year-old Herrera is coming off of a loss to Sadam Ali on Dec. 15 in a fight that was closer than the judges scored it. He’s perhaps still best known for an incredibly controversial decision loss to Danny Garcia in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, back in 2014, when Garcia was a titleholder at 140 pounds.

“Everyone knows the kind of experience that I bring to the table,” said Herrera. “Whether it’s against world champions, contenders or prospects, I bring a tough fight to anyone.

“Vergil Ortiz might have bitten off more than he can chew for this fight, especially now since we are the co-main event. I’m happy for yet another opportunity, and we look forward to stealing the show.”

The rest of the undercard is also in place:

• Pablo Cesar Cano (32-7-1, 22 KO) will face Michael Perez (25-3-2, 11 KO) in a 10-round junior welterweight bout.
• Lamont Roach Jr (18-0-1, 7 KO) meets Jonathan Oquendo (30-5, 19 KO) in a 10-round super featherweight matchup.
• Joseph Diaz Jr (28-1, 14 KO) takes on Freddy Fonseca (26-1-1, 17 KO) in a 12-round super featherweight title for the WBA “gold” belt, whatever that is. The WBA already has “super world” titles, “world” titles, and “interim world” titles scattered all over the sport, so why not “gold” titles, too, I suppose?
• Sadam Ali (27-2, 14 KO) faces Anthony Young (20-2, 7 KO) in a 10-round welterweight fight.
• John Ryder (27-4, 15 KO) is still on the card, and will fight Bilal Akkawy (20-0-1, 16 KO) for the vacant interim WBA super middleweight title.
• Alexis Espino (1-0, 1 KO) will be in a four-round super middleweight bout against Billy Wagner (1-0, 0 KO).