Going 12 rounds with Vergil Ortiz Jr. six months ago gave Serhii Bohachuk a respectful perspective on the young, durable knockout artist.

The Ukrainian junior middleweight contender expected Ortiz to hit harder than he did. Bohachuk thinks, though, that Ortiz is a skillful fighter who showed real resolve by getting up from two knockdowns during their fight for the WBC interim super welterweight title August 10 at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.

Bohachuk disagreed with the judges’ decision – a majority-decision win for Ortiz – and would like an opportunity to avenge that defeat. Rescheduling his fight versus Israil Madrimov seems more likely to Bohachuk, who predicted the experienced, skilled fighter from Uzbekistan will secure a victory over Ortiz, of Grand Prairie, Texas, on the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol undercard Saturday night at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“I think Madrimov [will win] because Madrimov, he has big experience,” Bohachuk told The Ring. “He has a long amateur career. He’s good. He’s smart. Vergil is not a bad boxer. He’s a good boxer. Vergil don’t have experience like Madrimov. … I think Madrimov will win this fight by decision.”

Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) thought he would become Madrimov’s first opponent after the 2016 Olympian’s 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat to Terence Crawford on August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The Madrimov-Bohachuk bout was announced as part of the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury 2 undercard December 21 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Once “The Last Crescendo” card was announced for Saturday, however, Bohachuk believed Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) would withdraw from their bout because boxing him and Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs) just nine weeks apart didn’t seem realistic to him.

“When I had the fight with Madrimov,” Bohachuk said, “people said, ‘What do you think? Madrimov fight with you and [Saturday] he has a fight with Vergil.’ I tell them, ‘It’s impossible. He can’t fight with me and two months [later] he fights Vergil.’ I think it’s impossible. One fight can change your career. It’s boxing. You can’t plan for the future, for the next three, four fights.

“No, you need to concentrate on the next fight. I told people it was impossible, and a couple weeks later my fight with Madrimov was canceled. And [then] they had the fight with Madrimov and Vergil. I said, ‘What did I tell you? It’s impossible to make a fight with me and [Vergil].’ ”

The odds on Ortiz-Madrimov are almost even, according to most sportsbooks. Their 12-round, 154-pound championship clash for Ortiz’s WBC belt is scheduled to be the fourth of eight fights on a pay-per-view show set to start at 4:15 p.m. GMT in the United Kingdom (£19.99) and 11:15 a.m. ET in the United States ($25.99).

Bohachuk will watch intently from his home near Los Angeles as Madrimov, The Ring’s No. 2 contender in the junior middleweight division, opposes Ortiz, who is rated fifth by The Ring.

“I’m interested in fighting the best because I don’t feel I lost the fight with Vergil,” said Bohachuk, who stopped Madrimov’s replacement, Ishmael Davis, after six one-sided rounds December 21. “I think I won [that] fight. I think Madrimov will win this fight. Then, in June, I want to fight Madrimov.”