Only the beginning for Vergil Ortiz
As the highly-touted Vergil Ortiz Jnr prepares to face Maurice Hooker in his biggest test he talks to Phil Rogers about his past, present and future
NOT every hatchet man is seduced by bloodlust. In 1634 a German executioner by the name of Meister Frantz Schmidt put pen to paper as he looked back on his 40 years in the profession. The violence he dispensed had been plentiful, yet Schmidt never grew numb to the grisly task he was asked to perform, often displaying profound empathy for his victims as they awaited their fate. In boxing, that same balance of compassion and violence has always fascinated; how so many otherwise kind and agreeable people can enter the ring and transform into such brutal and merciless combatants. One recent example is that of the up-and-coming American knockout artist, Vergil Ortiz Jnr, a young welterweight with a 100 per cent KO record in 16 fights who openly admits to feeling conflicted at the thought of the punishment his explosive fists hands out.