De La Hoya: ‘Vergil Ortiz vs. Terence Crawford @Dallas Cowboys Stadium anyone?’

Image: De La Hoya: 'Vergil Ortiz vs. Terence Crawford @Dallas Cowboys Stadium anyone?'
By Boxing News - 08/16/2021 - Comments

By Jeff Aronow: Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions wants to know if fans are ready to watch Vergil Ortiz Jr challenge Terence Crawford for his WBO welterweight title at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

The fans want to see the Crawford-Ortiz Jr fight, but they’re going to need to wait. Crawford business to take care of against former IBF 147-lb champion in October after the World Boxing Organization ordered the two fighters to fight next.

Ortiz doesn’t seem to care whether he’s ready or not for the title shot against Crawford; he wants that fight. If not Crawford, Vergil says he’d like to face Manny Pacquiao or Errol Spence Jr.

Vergil (18-0, 18 KOs) earned the title shot against Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) with his eighth round knockout win over Egidijus ‘Mean Machine’ Kavaliauskas (22-2-1, 18 KOs) last Saturday night at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

The 23-year-old Ortiz Jr successfully defended his WBO International welterweight title with his eighth round knockout of the 33-year-old former world title challenger Kavaliauskas.

It was the first time Vergil Jr had been taken past the seventh round during his five-year professional career.

Showing off his punching power, Ortiz Jr knocked Kavaliauskas down five times in the contest, with the first one coming in round three followed by four more in the eighth round before the fight was stopped.

“I think I looked alright. I got the win, and I could have looked a little prettier doing it,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr to DAZN after his win over Kavaliauskas last Saturday.

Crawford had said he wanted to see Vergil Jr take on Kavaliauskas to see if he could get past him before he decided to give him a shot. Now that Vergil Jr has passed that test, Crawford needs to take care of his business with Porter before the two can battle in 2022.

You got to like the way De La Hoya is willing to let his young fighters test themselves against the best. As a promoter, De La Hoya has a refreshing outlook in wanting to make the best fights.

If Vergil were with a different promoter, they likely would put the brakes on a fight between him and Crawford and instead wait five or six years for Terence to age sufficiently to where he’s too old to win.