Top welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr. stops Michael McKinson to extend KO streak

Vergil Ortiz Jr. looked across the ring on Saturday night and saw one of boxing's bureaucratic speed bumps.

In order for Ortiz to inch closer to a crack at a legitimate boxing championship, he had to first defeat Michael McKinson, who was modestly ranked by a couple of the sport's sanctioning bodies.

It's going to take more than a speed bump to slow Ortiz down.

Ortiz extended the strong start to the year and won via technical decision with a ninth-round stoppage at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. And with his 19th knockout in as many fights, Ortiz showed why he's one of the top welterweight contenders in the world — even if he didn't feel like he was at his best.

«The first seven rounds, I didn't really do anything good,» Ortiz said in the post-fight interview with DAZN. «I had to adjust big time. I should have listened to my corner from the beginning. But I listened and we got it done.»

Saturday's bout just a few miles away from Ortiz's hometown of Grand Prairie was considered a WBO eliminator. Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs) will certainly maintain his status as the WBO and WBA's No. 1 contender in the 147-pound division.

But McKinson (22-1, 2 KOs) proved to be a tricky opponent. He was slippery around the outside of the ring and roughed Ortiz up on the inside as well.

Eventually, all the body work Ortiz's corner asked for at the beginning of the fight manifested itself and paid dividends. In the final 30 seconds of the eighth round, Ortiz dropped the British fighter with a left hook to the body. McKinson went down in a similar fashion at the beginning of the ninth round.

After he limped around the ring, his corner jumped to the top of the apron and threw in the towel.

Ortiz said his father, Vergil Ortiz Sr., yelled at him