Vasiliy Lomachenko, Jamaine Ortiz make weight for Saturday’s fight
Vasiliy Lomachenko and Jamaine Ortiz on Friday made weight for their scheduled 12-round lightweight bout Saturday at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York (ESPN+).
Lomachenko weighed 134.6 pounds, .4 under the division limit. Ortiz came in at 134.
The weigh-in was typical. Only Ortiz’s decision to don sunglasses after he made weight was unusual. He removed them during the obligatory stare down.
Lomachenko, the former pound-for-pound king, is 2-0 since he lost a unanimous decision to Teofimo Lopez in October 2020. That cost the Ukrainian his undisputed 135-pound championship.
Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) hasn’t fought since last December before of the war in his country.
Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs) is coming off the biggest victory in his career, a unanimous decision over former titleholder Jamel Herring this past May.
The two sparred before Lomachenko’s unanimous decision victory over Richard Commey last December.
Lomachenko respects his opponent, who is from Worcester, Massachusetts.
“I know he’s a good, technical boxer,” he said after the weigh-in. “He has very good speed. He knows boxing.”
Ortiz said that the sparring was a good experience but might not amount to much on Saturday night.
“It’s hard to say because it’s sparring,” he said. “You’re not really 100 percent. One is preparing for a certain fight, practicing certain techniques. The other one is trying to imitate the [opponent].”
The card starts at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. The main event will take place later in the show.
