LOS ANGELES – Vergil Ortiz Jr. will next face Michael McKinson on March 19 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. Should the hard-hitting Ortiz (18-0, 18 KOs) maintain his unblemished record, he has his sights set on an all-Lone Star State showdown against unified welterweight champion Errol Spence.
Ortiz, from Grand Prairie, and Spence, a native of DeSoto, have been popular draws in Texas in recent years.
Spence pulls in massive crowds at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, home of the Dallas Cowboys. The WBC and IBF titlist Spence will headline his third pay-per-view bout at the same venue when he takes on WBA champion Yordenis Ugas on April 16 in a Showtime PPV event. Ortiz has headlined three out of his last five fights in his home state in smaller venues.
The 23-year-old Ortiz is ranked No. 1 by both the WBC and WBO, No. 2 by the WBA and No. 4 by the IBF, and he feels that he is ready for a championship opportunity after back-to-back wins against former world titlist Maurice Hooker and former world title challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas.
“I think [a fight with Spence] will be the biggest fight in Texas history of all time – hands down,” Ortiz told BoxingScene.com in an interview. “I know that it would happen at the Cowboys stadium and it would sell out. It’s really exciting, but we have to get there first.”
Ortiz said that the 31-year-old Spence should capitalize on the opportunity to fight him sooner before he enters his physical prime.
“I think so because I’m only getting better, stronger and faster with every fight. I’m only getting more experienced. So I would say so,” said Ortiz. “I would take those risks. Without risk, there is no reward. You can’t not take risks and expect to be great.”
Ortiz said he’s looking forward to seeing Spence in action and assessing his physical condition after his potential future foe suffered a near-fatal car accident in October 2019 and a retina injury in August that required surgery and forced him to pull out of a fight against Manny Pacquiao. In between the setbacks, Spence scored a unanimous decision win against Danny Garcia in December 2020.
“Spence and Ugas is a competitive fight, no doubt about that,” said Ortiz. “I would give Spence the edge. I’m not saying he’s going to win, or that he’s going to blow him out or anything, but I give him the slight edge. Ugas is definitely a game fighter. It can honestly go either way.”
In April 2020, Ortiz said he would be ready to fight Spence by 2022 so that he could have the chance to beat Spence while his opponent was still in his prime.
In a March 2021 interview with BoxingScene.com, Ortiz said he envisions a future fight with Spence at 154 pounds.
“Errol and I used to be teammates,” Ortiz said at the time. “We’re cool. There’s no bad blood between us. We’re cool but it’s not like we talk all the time or anything. We know there’s the potential for a fight between us one day. It’s not a bad relationship.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
