Oscar De La Hoya is certain Vergil Ortiz Jr. is ready to beat any welterweight in boxing, not just Maurice Hooker.
Ortiz’s promoter proclaimed the undefeated contender as the best boxer in the 147-pound division Friday during a virtual press conference to promote the Ortiz-Hooker fight. That’s quite a bold statement when you consider unbeaten champions Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. are among boxing’s elite welterweights.
The 22-year-old Ortiz, of Grand Prairie, Texas, and Dallas’ Hooker are set to meet March 20 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
“When you think about Vergil Ortiz, he has to be the best fighter out there at 147, or in any weight class, for that matter,” De La Hoya said. “Vergil Ortiz, and I’ve said this all along, Vergil Ortiz will beat anybody at 147 right now.”
De La Hoya hopes Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KOs) at least can give Ortiz rounds when they square off in a main event DAZN will stream. Ortiz has knocked out each of his pro opponents (16-0, 16 KOs) and just two of those bouts have lasted beyond the fifth round.
The 31-year-old Hooker has been knocked out only once, though, by undefeated Jose Ramirez in their 140-pound title unification fight in July 2019. Though slightly taller than Ortiz, Hooker will fight at the 147-pound limit for the first time since the former WBO junior welterweight champion moved up from the 140-pound division.
“You take a look at Hooker’s fight with Ramirez, and it was an action-packed, great fight,” De La Hoya said. “He’s gonna present to Vergil different movements, different footwork, speed, his mannerisms. They’re totally different than what Vergil has been used to fighting in the past. So, it’s like I’ve always said – styles make fights. And you have to make sure that you bring along a fighter and present to him, as every fight goes on, you present to him different styles. And so, Maurice Hooker presents a totally unique, different style. He’s fast, he’s explosive, he’s very elusive.
“It’s gonna be different for Vergil and, you know, the question is, will he pass the test? Will he knock Hooker out? Vergil Ortiz has been knocking everybody out, so we wanna see Vergil go several rounds. And this is exactly what Golden Boy does, is make sure that we build not only champions, but we build superstars. And I believe that Vergil Ortiz is on the verge of becoming a superstar.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
