Sergii Bohachuk’s promoter is resigned to the reality that Vergil Ortiz Jr. isn’t interested in granting his fighter the rematch Bohachuk and his handlers believe he deserves.

Rather than wasting time and energy chasing a fight that won’t happen next, Tom Loeffler has turned his attention toward securing another fan-friendly junior middleweight title fight for Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs). Loeffler informed The Ring that he had a constructive conversation with Main Events’ Kathy Duva, whose company promotes Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs), regarding making Murtazaliev-Bohachuk next for the unbeaten Russian champion’s IBF 154-pound crown.

“Honestly, that’s the fight to make,” Loeffler told The Ring. “I’ve already talked to Bakhram’s people. They’re willing to fight Bohachuk and Bohachuk is willing to fight Bakhram. That’s a no-brainer. That has ‘Fight of the Year’ written all over it.”

The Ring ranks Ortiz, the WBC interim champ, at No. 2, Murtazaliev at No. 4 and Bohachuk at No. 6 in its junior middleweight top 10. The Ring’s 154-pound championship is vacant.

Ukraine’s Bohachuk and Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs), of Grand Prairie, Texas, engaged in one of the best action fights of 2024 on August 10 in Las Vegas. Ortiz got up from two flash knockdowns, one in the first round and another in the eighth round, and won their tremendous 12-rounder by majority decision at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena.

Bohachuk believed a WBC elimination match against Israel Madrimov would’ve been his path to earning a rematch with Ortiz once it was announced as part of the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury 2 undercard December 21 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Uzbekistan’s Madrimov (10-2-1, 7 KOs) withdrew from that bout, as Bohachuk believed he would do, after an Ortiz-Madrimov match was revealed as part of the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol undercard for February 22 at ANB Arena in Riyadh.

Ortiz defeated Madrimov by unanimous decision, but Bohachuk doesn’t appear to be an option for Ortiz’s next bout. Oscar De La Hoya, Ortiz’s promoter, admitted as much while promoting The Ring’s “FATAL Fury: City of the Wolves” card Monday in Los Angeles.

“My understanding is the father [of Ortiz] doesn’t want the rematch,” Loeffler explained. “If you get knocked down twice, I’m sure they’re not excited about giving Bohachuk the rematch. [Guaranteeing the rematch] wasn’t part of the deal. But everyone was talking about the rematch because it was the ‘Fight of the Year’ last year. And so, we were talking about it.

“But when it came down to it, I think they’re gonna look for an easier fight. There was a quote, and I think it was from Golden Boy, that said Vergil fought Bohachuk and then Madrimov, and doesn’t want a third tough fight. But if Bohachuk would’ve fought Madrimov in December, I think he would’ve beaten him and he would’ve had no problem fighting Ortiz or Bakhram.”

Bohachuk defeated Madrimov’s replacement, England’s Ishmael Davis (13-2, 6 KOs), by technical knockout after six one-sided rounds December 21.

That should make him the WBC’s mandatory challenger for full champion Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs), who will defend his WBC and WBO belts against another American southpaw, Chordale Booker (23-1, 11 KOs), on March 22 in the main event of a Prime Video stream from Michelob ULTRA Arena. Bohachuk doesn’t want to wait around for the WBC to enforce that obligation against the Fundora-Booker winner or for Ortiz to change his mind about boxing him again.

That’s why Loeffler spoke with Duva regarding an intriguing bout between Bohachuk and Murtazaliev, who annihilated Australian contender Tim Tszyu on October 19 in Orlando, Florida. Russia’s Murtazaliev dropped Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) three times in the second round and once in the third round on his way to a third-round stoppage of a fighter who was listed as a 7-1 favorite.

“Bohachuk is not afraid to fight anyone at 154,” Loeffler said. “He showed that. I don’t know any other fighter who wins a title and then makes his first title defense against Vergil Ortiz. So, we have a lotta respect for Vergil, but Bohachuk has proven that he has no issues fighting Vergil, Madrimov, Bakhram. That’s a tremendous fight, Bohachuk and Bakhram, for the IBF championship. Fundora, we were supposed to fight him [last March 30, when Fundora defeated Tszyu in a bloodbath]. That’s a tremendous fight, too. There are so many great fights for Bohachuk. He’s in a really great position right now.”