Vergil Ortiz stops Thomas Dulorme in the first round to set up future fight with Tim Tszyu
Vergil Ortiz Jr. (21-0, 21KO) was in his typical destructive mood on Saturday night, April 27, at the BMO Stadium in LA as he stopped world title contender Thomas Dulorme (26-7-1, 17KO) in the first round.
The 21st knockout victory of his career not only continued his perfect record but also set up a mega-fight with Australian superstar Tim Tszyu on August 3.
Prior to his second fight of the year, the 26-year-old Texan had only boxed just one round in 20 months. Following his ninth-round knockout won over Briton Michael McKinson in August 2022, he had just one more fight since, against Fredrick Lawson, which ended in 153 seconds, and now he has just about doubled that time to 159 seconds.
French-born Dulorme was the one coming out throwing big overhand rights, but when he decided to stand in the pocket, he was punished by a short, venomous left hook to the body, which downed the Puerto Rican instantly and heavily.
The pair exchanged jabs to start with as range-finders. Dulorme’s big overhand right on the one-minute mark was easily blocked by Vergil’s high guard. Dulorme fired off a one-two, but Ortiz used his quick feet to back up out of the way.
But then, Ortiz began to back Dulorme up, narrowly missing with a big right hook over the top, then missing with a left hook up top as Dulorme mistakenly held his feet, which is when Ortiz went downstairs with the potent left hook just above the hip.
Dulorme sank heavily to the canvas and proceeded to roll around in agony, with no way of getting back to his feet.
The quick win was the eighth first-round knockout of his career and set up a summer showdown with Aussie Tszyu.
The super-welterweights will clash over 12 rounds on the Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov card in the same setting in LA.
On the undercard, there were wins for Jose Carlos Ramirez, Gabriel Celeste Alaniz, Oscar Duarte Jurado and Raul Curiel.