YOUNG PROSPECTS ORTIZ AND FLORES CAREERS’ KEEP ROLLING ALONG!
April 20, 2024
Simon Ruvalcaba
Previous ‘Punchline’ guests and rising boxing prospects Vergil Ortiz Jr and Gabriel Flores Jr continued their rise up the boxing ladder last weekend and passed some early tests in their young careers.
For 20 year old Jr. Welterweight prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr, he passed the biggest test of his young career on the televised portion of the Canelo – GGG undercard when he destroyed veteran Roberto Ortiz in the first round to improve to 11-0 (11). Now trained by Robert Garcia, Ortiz Jr is showing the mark of being Golden Boy Promotion’s next superstar. With a style in the ring that reminds many of Fernando Vargas and with a fan friendly and very marketable demeanor outside the ring, look for continued exposure to come out of his camp.
For Stockton, California Jr. Lightweight, Gabriel Flores Jr last Friday night in Fresno, CA was his T.V. debut as he faced off against Roger Gutierrez in a 6 round bout to kick off Top Rank’s Friday Night Fights on ESPN. It was a dominant performance for Flores, who displayed his swagger with fast combos and elusive defense. The one mistake was getting caught in the first round with an overhand right counter from Gutierrez that floored Flores for the first time in his career. With the knockdown being the talk of the bout and the blog aftermath giving too much criticism to Flores, it should be reminded of how many greats have suffered knockdowns early in their careers. Oscar De La Hoya was knocked down in several consecutive bouts early in his career, in each one he got up and he won the fight. Much like the March Madness NCAA tournament, at this point it’s all about getting the ‘W’ and moving on. Moving forward is exactly what Flores, 10-0 (5), is doing as he is preparing for a December bout in Los Angeles to wrap up the year with.
Look for much more to come from these two young lions of the sport as they continue to give the fans a glimpse of boxing’s future and stay tuned to “The Punchline with Kelly Pavlik and James Dominguez” as the show continues to grow alongside rising careers such as these!
About the Editor
Army Veteran and former Professional Boxer Simon Ruvalcaba started boxing at the age of ten and Had a 71 fight amateur career which featured a 139 lbs. 1998 8th U.S. Army Boxing Championship out of Camp Casey, Korea and a spot on the prestigious Army Boxing Team at Fort Hood, TX. After a journeyman pro career of 18 fights, which included sparring sessions with many champions and contenders including Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell “Sweat Pea” Whitaker, Simon started writing and has contributed to many publications and websites including fighthype.com, pound4pound.com, Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, CA), Nevada Appeal (Carson City, NV). He has also been the Boxing Instructor for Ken Shamrock and The Lions Den and was MMA and Bareknuckle star Paige VanZant’s first boxing coach!
Born and Raised in South Lake Tahoe, California he now resides in Sun Valley, Nevada and spends as much time as possible with his Sons Gabriel and Oscar! Beyond boxing, Simon is an all around sports fanatic and is passionate about the teams that he roots for. Simon also works as a Sportsbook Supervisor for Caesars Sportsbook in Lake Tahoe.
