Ortiz Jr vs Dulorme Predictions: Middle rounds look good for unbeaten Ortiz

Unbeaten super welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr returns on Saturday, April 27 as he takes on gatekeeper Thomas Dulorme. The bout will serve as the co-main event to Jose Ramirez vs Rances Barthelemeny. DAZN screen the fight, which takes place at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Here are my Ortiz Jr vs Dulorme predictions ahead of this 154-pound match-up.

Ortiz has been on the cusp of the elite level for a while. It had looked like the 26-year-old would break through at welterweight. He had the world rankings and unbeaten record to back it up, after all. Ortiz had the quality wins necessary too. Victories over world title challengers and former champions like Maurice Hooker, Mauricio Herrera, Samuel Vargas and Egidijus Kavaliauskas showed his class.

But rather than ascend to the welterweight throne, he has moved up a division to super welterweight. Cynics may point out the imposing figures of Terence Crawford and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis at the top of the division as partial reasoning. However, given the fact Ortiz is 5-foot-10, his team’s assertion that making the 147-pound limit was no longer physically safe for their man holds water. 

So Ortiz has embarked on a mission in the less-glamorous but perhaps more-pragmatic super welterweight division. Not that 154 pounds is short on quality. On the contrary. Errol Spence Jr has moved up after succumbing to Crawford last summer. Sebastian Fundora just became WBC and WBO champion after a thrilling performance against the still-dangerous Tim Tsyzu. Jermell Charlo, the former undisputed boss, still holds The Ring title. Ortiz might just have climbed out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Not that he’s sweating under the pressure. Ortiz trounced ​​Fredrick Lawson in one round on his divisional debut in January. It was his first fight after a 17-month illness lay-off. Now the Texan is making up for lost time with a second fight in quick succession. Credit to Ortiz, after the ease with which he squashed Lawson, he is stepping up in class this time.

Granted, Dulorme is still far from the toughest test of Ortiz’s career. He’s slain far greater dragons at welterweight. But the wiley former world title challenger offers something Lawson did not; resistance. He might not be a world beater, but Dulorme’s level of competition demonstrates why he is to be taken seriously.

Dulorme’s biggest fight was a sixth-round TKO defeat to Crawford for the vacant WBO welterweight strap. He has also faced ex-champion Yordenis Ugas, losing a unanimous decision to the man who conquered Manny Pacquiao. He also notched a majority draw against former world champion Jesse Vargas and holds victories over the likes of Henry Lundy and DeMarcus ‘Chop Chop’ Corley.

It must be said that a win does look far beyond Dulorme at this stage of his career, despite his credentials. Even in his prime he looked a step or two below the level Ortiz is operating at. Having been out of the ring for just shy of two years, it is unlikely that the 34-year-old is coming into this at his peak. Two fights ago, he took on a similar challenge to this when he met ‘Boots’ Ennis. Another unbeaten, can’t-miss prospect, Ennis destroyed Dulorme in a single round.

I think Ortiz will similarly wrap this fight up long before its scheduled conclusion. ‘Boots’ is ‘Boots’ and he is an incomparable measuring stick for any fighter to meet. That’s why I’m backing Ortiz to get this one done in rounds 4-6. It allows the Texan to warm into the fight against a trickier opponent that he faced last time. But ultimately, he will lower the boom before halfway. My selection is 7/5 (an implied probability of 41.7%) if you agree that Ortiz will get this done in rounds 4-6.

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