The words of Vergil Ortiz, Jr. have continued ringing days after his knockout victory over Maurice Hooker Saturday night at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
“I would love the opportunity to fight Terence Crawford. If I get any opportunity, I would take it. I don't care if I'm ready or not; I want that fight."
Maybe it was the bravado talking but Ortiz has demonstrated he does not want to be babied when it comes to boxing. Ortiz believes he is ready for the best welterweights in boxing today, including the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Errol Spence, and Terence Crawford.
Both Spence and Crawford sat ringside for the Ortiz fight. Cameras panned to Crawford in the Ortiz post-fight interview.
Ortiz will win a world title one of these days. Actually, it will be great to see what type of rivalry he will have against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, who is also undefeated and has decimated his opposition as Ortiz has as of late.
The 22-year-old is a gifted prizefighter and could become a pound-for-pound entity for years to come, including at 154 pounds. A fight against Crawford or Spence now may not be in his best interests, considering each fighter is currently at a higher level than Ortiz and for the level of opposition they have faced.
Not to say Ortiz does not give a solid account of himself against each fighter. It would be compelling to see if Ortiz’s youth, power, and craftiness can produce a result.
It happened with Teofimo Lopez. Skeptics thought he would get school and/ or knocked out by Vasiliy Lomachenko. Instead, Lopez fought the fight of his life (thus far), outboxing Lomachenko throughout the majority of the fight before holding off a late rally to win by unanimous decision.
Could the same happen for Ortiz? Can he pull off an upset win over Crawford or Spence? That is a stretch, but Ortiz knows how to handle business in the ring, can finish an opponent, and has an excellent trainer in Robert Garcia. Ortiz has yet to hit his peak.
So, if not Terence Crawford or Errol Spence, who could Ortiz next face?
Why not unbeaten unbeaten Rashidi Ellis? He is unbeaten and also fights under the Golden Boy Promotions banner. Ellis’ speed and explosiveness against Ortiz power and aggressive attack. The winner becomes an elite contender in a very crowded welterweight division.
If Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions believe he is ready, why not have Ortiz face the likes of WBA titleholder Yordenis Ugas or former world titleholder Danny Garcia. Ortiz is more than ready to face that level of opposition and win convincingly.
Should Ortiz get by the likes of Ellis and either Garcia or Ugas, then you could make a case for him to face someone like Shawn Porter in a world title eliminator or for a world title belt. Then he would be ready to face Crawford or Spence, should both still remain fighting at 147 pounds.
Ortiz has the tools to be a once in a generation type of talent. As mentioned, he has yet to peak so it will be interesting to see how much he would improve and the overall skill-set he will acquire to compliment his punching power.
Golden Boy Promotions has a phenomenal talent in Ortiz. They will know how to guide him and see how much to push him into the deeper end of the talented welterweight pool.
Ortiz is already a great fighter. He will become an elite fighter at 147 pounds and possibly up to 154 pounds as well. He does have the capability to rule the welterweight division. Only thing is not when there is a two-headed monster that is Crawford and Spence.
Too bad they do not fight each other.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper and RingTV.com. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.
