Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Michael McKinson are ready to face-off this weekend in the Great State of Texas.
This week, Ortiz and McKinson held a virtual media conference just days before they battle it out in a welterweight fight.
The fight will take place in the home state of Ortiz Jr., where he will be going toe-to-toe against Great Britain's own Michael McKinson. The 12-round battle will be for Vergil's WBO International Welterweight Title, making this fight a highly-anticipated championship battle between both talented boxers.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. says that he is looking forward to coming back to fight in his home state of Texas, especially after not fighting in almost a whole year due to various reasons, according to the Texan boxer.
“It feels great to be back at home. It’s really hot, but that’s just what I’m used to. It feels great. I’m just ready to fight. It’s been like a year. It sucks that a lot of things happened within that year, and it’s taken a full year to come back around, but hopefully, after this fight, everything’s back on schedule," said Ortiz Jr.
“We were supposed to fight in January, so I was getting ready before that. We were basically in full camp mode right before that. When I train, I’m like 110%. My body was going as hard as I could possibly go. Unfortunately, we didn’t find January; we set a new date in March. And I think with just all those months of just back-to-back with non-stop training, my body just couldn’t take it anymore. This time we had no fall-throughs with the schedule, and this time my body feels great, and we’re ready to go," Vergil added.
Vergil still has a lot of years to improve to his fullest potential, as he's currently a 24-year-old champion who is eager to continue to make an impact in his boxing division.
“Fortunately, time is on my side. I’m only 24 years old, and at the same time, I don’t want to be wasting time. You know what that’s like. I should have fought three or four times already, and that’s time we won’t get back. So I try my best to remain optimistic about any scenario, no matter how negative it is. But overall I feel very happy. I’m very excited to be back in the ring and ready to put on a great show for the fans all across the world.”
And as for the British 28-year-old fighter, McKinson says he hasn't received enough credit for being the southpaw fighter he is today. He believes that with this fight at hand, he has the opportunity to show the world that he is "world-class".
“Over in the UK, I’m known as a tricky southpaw. I don’t think I get enough credit as I’m a very smart southpaw," McKinson said. "I’m actually a right-handed lefty; people don’t really know that. You don’t get to 22-0, winning four international titles along the way for not being a good fighter. I believe I’m a very good fighter, but I haven’t had the opportunity to prove that I’m world-class. Along the way, I’ve never had the luxury of picking and choosing whom I get to fight next. I’ve had to take risks from early on and be on the B side from early on to get to where I am right now.”
The fight is scheduled for this Saturday, August 6 at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
This event will be live-streamed across the world through DAZN.
