If Vergil Ortiz Jr. performs the way Oscar De La Hoya expects Saturday night, Ortiz’s promoter would be willing to put him in a much more difficult fight later this year.
De La Hoya stated during an appearance Thursday on “The Ak & Barak Show” that he’d be comfortable making an Ortiz-Terence Crawford welterweight title fight if Ortiz is impressive in his bout with Maurice Hooker. The heavy-handed Ortiz (16-0, 16 KOs), of Grand Prairie, Texas, and Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KOs), a former WBO junior welterweight champ from Dallas, will headline DAZN’s stream Saturday night from Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas (9 p.m. ET).
Hooker is commonly considered the best opponent of Ortiz’s four-year pro career entering their 12-round welterweight fight.
“You know, I feel that depending on how he looks, OK, because look, me as a fighter, I can see, you know, us fighters, we can see things and what he’s thinking and when he gets hit, how he reacts,” De La Hoya told co-hosts Barak Bess and Akin Reyes, whose show streams weekdays on DAZN and SiriusXM. “And if Vergil Ortiz passes this test with flying colors, then I wouldn’t mind throwing him in there with Terence Crawford. That would be an amazing fight.”
Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), the WBO welterweight champion, is widely viewed as one of the best boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport. The 22-year-old Ortiz, who is the WBO’s second-ranked welterweight contender, would be considered a high-risk, low-reward foe for the 33-year-old Crawford, despite the three-division champion’s well-documented need for top opposition within the 147-pound division.
Nevertheless, De La Hoya is anxious to determine Ortiz’s readiness for elite welterweights by watching him perform against the 31-year-old Hooker. Handicappers have installed Ortiz as at least a 12-1 favorite, yet De La Hoya sees the tall, rangy Hooker as a legitimate threat to the rapidly developing Ortiz’s perfect record.
Like Hooker, Crawford is trained by Brian McIntyre. Crawford – an Omaha, Nebraska, native – is expected to attend the Ortiz-Hooker fight, in part to take a close look at Ortiz.
“I think we’ll know on Saturday night,” De La Hoya said. “I think Maurice is a very, very dangerous fighter. You know, he’s not even an opponent. I think he’s just a dangerous dance partner that is gonna be very tricky. You know, his style, he’s been in there with world champions. He has the experience. He has the confidence as well. I heard Hooker talk about Ortiz looking past him, so I think Maurice Hooker’s confidence level is really high at this moment. So, I think we have a real, real fight on Saturday night.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
