By Sean Jones: Errol Spence Jr. threw cold water on Golden Boy Promotion boss Oscar De La Hoya’s idea of him facing his unbeaten flagship fighter Vergil Ortiz Jr. next at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Errol looked spectacular last Saturday night, coming off a 16-month layoff to stop WBA 147-lb champion Yordenis Ugas in the 10th round in a war at the AT&T Stadium.
Spence says he ONLY wants one more fight at 147 and that’s against WBO champion Terence Crawford later this year. That’s the last belt Spence needs to become the undisputed champion at welterweight, and he’s not going to waste time with the 24-year-old Ortiz.
De La Hoya posted on social media last Sunday an idea of IBF/WBA/WBC welterweight champion Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) defending against the highly ranked Ortiz (18-0, 18 KOs), but that’s not going to happen.
Errol made it immediately clear that he only wants a fight with Crawford before he leaves the division to move up to 154.
Imagine if I said NO I only have interest in 1 fight & he’s not with you 😐.. https://t.co/3jbj505KhH
— Errol Spence (@ErrolSpenceJr) April 18, 2022
The 24-year-old Vergil Ortiz might need to think about moving up to 154 as well soon because many boxing fans believe he’s struggling with the weight.
While training for his canceled fight against little-known British fighter Michael McKinson last March, he suffered a medical problem that resulted in him pulling out of the contest.
It’s now been eight months since Ortiz last fought against Egidijus Kavaliauskas, and he still doesn’t have a fight scheduled.
At this point, it’s looking like Vergil will be out of the ring for an entire year before he fights again. For a contender to be out of the ring for as long as Ortiz, it’s not a good omen.
It might be a good idea for De La Hoya to have Ortiz move up to 154 because he’s not going to beat the young lions like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis when it comes to fighting for one of the soon to be fragmented 147-pound belts after the winner of the Spence vs. Crawford undisputed clash vacate the titles.
Ortiz hasn’t looked overly impressive in his last two fights against Maurice Hooker and Kavaliauskas. The way Vergil looked in those fights, he’s NOT going to beat Boots Ennis, Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman, or Conor Benn.
How much of Ortiz’s poor performances in those two fights were attributed to weight problems is unknown. If it is weight-related, Vergil needs to move up to 154 as soon as possible because he’s not going to beat those fighters with the way he’s fighting now.
“17 months out the ring I did ok I’ll be a lot better next time,” said Spence on Twitter.
Spence will need to be a lot better next time out if he wants to beat Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) because he’ll take advantage of all the openings he presented against Ugas.
