By Chris Williams: Terence Crawford says Vergil Ortiz Jr has to earn a fight against him and that he’s not ready to face him at this time. WBO welterweight champion Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) was there at ringside for Ortiz’s fight against his stablemate Maurice Hooker (27-2-3, 18 KOs), and he witnessed firsthand him losing to Vergil at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
In an interview last Saturday, Crawford stated that Vergil Ortiz is NOT his mandatory, Shawn Porter is, and he has no intentions of fighting him.
Additionally, Crawford also ruled out fighting Errol Spence Jr as well. “I already told everybody that fight is history for me,” said Crawford in ruling out a fight with Spence as well.
Basically, it appears that Crawford is still banking on the slim hopes that his promoters at Top Rank will be able to negotiate a fight against 42-year-old Manny Pacquiao next. That looks very unlikely to happen, and Crawford will be needy real soon when he comes up empty.
You’d think Crawford would have learned his lesson by now that Manny is not interested in fighting him. But it’s a good example of how people see what they want to see when they really want something.
Hopefully, Crawford sees the light and comes down to earth to realize the only options he has are Vergil or Shawn Porter unless he wants to accept the 60-40 split that Spence is offering him.
Crawford hasn’t shown much interest in fighting Porter either, which suggests that he’s had the ‘avoidant’ stage in his career where he’s ducking & dodging the talented opposition.
I guess the hard fight that Crawford had against ‘Mean Machine’ Egidijus Kavaliauskas took his ambition completely to the point where it appears he’s just looking for a cash-out fight against Pacquiao before retiring.
The #2 WBO-ranked Ortiz (17-0, 17 KOs) called Crawford out after the fight with Maurice, letting the boxing fans know that he wants him next.
Crawford made it clear, though, that the 22-year-old Vergil still needs to work his way up the rankings with the World Boxing Organization to earn his right to fight with him.
“No, Vergil has got to work his way up,” said Terence Crawford to Fino Boxing when asked if he’ll fight Vergil Ortiz next. “That fight ain’t even ready yet. He’s not ready,” Terence added about Vergil.
Well, if Vergil isn’t ready, who is Crawford going to fight instead that is superior to him? I mean, Crawford can’t keep raiding the old-timers that he’s been fighting.
Let’s face it; Terence has been fighting inferior opposition since he moved up to the 147-lb division with his fights against these guys:
- Amir Khan
- Kell Brook
- Jeff Horn
- Jose Benavidez Jr
- Egidijus Kavaliauskas
Based on the guys that Crawford has fought since moving up to the welterweight division, he shouldn’t be in the top five of the pound-for-pound list, let alone at #1, which is an insane ranking for a fighter with his woeful resume.
“I just laugh at it,” said Crawford when asked by DAZN his thoughts on Vergil Ortiz calling him out. “I’m on bigger things. Who knows what the future will hold?”
Chris Williams doesn’t have Crawford in his top 10 pound-for-pound list because he still hasn’t fought anyone good during his entire career. The best name on Crawford’s 13-year professional resume is Yuriorkis Gamboa, but he was already over-the-hill when he fought him in 2014.
“No, he’s not my mandatory. Shawn Porter is my mandatory. No fight is easy,’ said Crawford when asked if he can ‘take Vergil Ortiz out easy.’ “But if that fight was to happen, I will be victorious.”
Does this sound like a fighter that is willing to fight the best? Ortiz’s performance against ‘Mighty Mo’ Hooker appears to have scared Crawford off, putting obstacles in front of Vergil.