Vergil Ortiz Jr. is not at all concerned with landing a welterweight title shot, at least as it relates to sticking around in the talent-laden division,
“I’m not leaving 147 until I get a world title,” Ortiz confirmed to BoxingScene.com. “I’m here to stay. I’m here all year, here until I get that shot and win that belt.”
Achieving that goal would either mean pursuing WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford (38-0, 29KOs) or waiting out the winner of the April 16 WBC/WBA/IBF title unification clash between Errol Spence Jr. (27-0, 21KOs) and Yordenis Ugas (27-4, 12KOs). Ortiz will likely be in attendance for the latter, with the event taking place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, near his Grand Prairie hometown.
A shot at Crawford would seem to come with less of a wait. It would also line up with the outcome of his next fight, as Ortiz (18-0, 18KOs)—the number-one contender in the WBO—next faces WBO #3 ranked Michael McKinson (21-0, 2KOs). The bout takes place March 19 on DAZN from the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles, with the winner likely to be named the next mandatory challenger for Crawford, currently a promotional free agent and without a next opponent or fight date.
Regardless of the road to a title shot, the one thing on Ortiz’s mind is a more productive 2022 campaign than has been the case in each of the past two years. The 2019 Prospect of the Year was limited to one fight in 2020 due to the pandemic and two fights in 2021.
Both of Ortiz’s fights last year served as local headliners in the greater Dallas area, scoring knockout wins over former WBO junior welterweight titlist Maurice Hooker last March 20 in Fort Worth and former title challenger Egiidijus Kavaliauskas last August 14 in Frisco, Texas. Hopes of a third fight fell short due to Golden Boy Promotions running out of room on its budget of one DAZN date per month.
The hope for 2022 is that the similarly early start to the year will lead to a busier campaign—one that potentially ends with Golden Boy’s next world champion.
“That’s always the goal, I want to fight as many times as possible,” notes Ortiz. “I don’t want to waste any time not fighting; you don’t get that time back.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
