Vergil Ortiz Jr. has never been one to look beyond the opportunity in front of him, although this next one can’t help but provide a reminder of what potentially lies ahead.

Currently in his face is an all-Dallas showdown with former 140-pound titlist Maurice Hooker (27-1-3, 18KOs). The two collide on March 20, live on DAZN from nearby Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. At stake is a regional welterweight title within the WBO, whose recognized world champion at the weight is Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford—who just so happens to train alongside Hooker under the tutelage of Brian ‘Bomac’ McIntyre.

“I definitely feel like they’re gonna be studying me,” Ortiz Jr. suggested to BoxingScene.com of Hooker’s team potentially scouting him for a bigger fight down the road. “It gives them a chance to look at me.

“The thing is, there’s always something about watching a fight and thinking I’m gonna do this and this, until you’re in the ring and it’s time to do it. A lot of that stuff doesn’t work, you just have to get in the ring and figure it out.”

The upcoming bout is along the lines of what Ortiz (16-0, 16KOs) expected coming out of his 2019 Prospect of the Year campaign, as the goal was to fight four times in 2020 and with at least one coming at the world title level. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic reduced his past year to just one fight, a 7th round stoppage of Samuel Vargas last July in a fight which was rescheduled from four months prior. The hope around this time one year ago was to have beaten Vargas in March to set up an active year which could have potentially led to a shot at Crawford (37-0, 28KOs), who has held the WBO welterweight title since June 2018.

Ortiz is presently the number-two contender to that title, with the WBO’s International welterweight title at stake carrying that much more significance for this upcoming bout.

“I’m motivated for all of my fights. I train hard for all of my fights but there’s something on the line that always adds more fuel to the flame,” admits Ortiz. “Crawford is Hooker’s stablemate. Who knows, maybe that fight can happen next.

“We just saw Bob Arum sitting down with Oscar de la Hoya and Eric Gomez. So…who knows? We just have to wait and see.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox