Golden Boy-promoted Vergil Ortiz Jr. is targeting a fight against Terence Crawford in 2024, targeting the highly ranked pound-for-pound fighter along with the champions in the 154-lb division.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is moving up to junior middleweight for his rematch with Errol Spence Jr. and will begin campaigning in this weight class, hoping to get a chance to take on Canelo Alvarez & likely Jermall Charlo.
The 36-year-old Crawford may not want to face Vergil Jr., as he says he only wants to be involved in the huge money-making fights against the big names. Unfortunately, Ortiz Jr. isn’t one of the popular fighters in the sport due to his inactivity and weak resume, which are mostly filled with lesser opposition.
Ortiz needs some solid wins
For Ortiz to have a chance of sharing the ring with Crawford, he’ll have to be super busy in 2024 and knock off some of the best in the 154-lb division, beating these fighters:
- Tim Tszyu
- Jermell Charlo
- Brian Mendoza
- Erickson Lubins
- Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora
Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs) is returning from his long period of inactivity this Saturday, January 6th, facing Fredrick Lawson (30-3, 22 KOs) in a twelve round headliner on DAZN at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
Before Ortiz Jr’s long layoff & health problems, he’d been one of the top welterweights in the division. However, he’d never fought any of the top-echelon 147-pounders, so it was difficult to know how good he was.
We still won’t know that after Saturday because the 34-year-old Lawson is not one of the top fighters in the 154-lb division. He’s a tune-up-level opponent picked out by Golden Boy for Ortiz Jr. to get the rust off.
Ortiz Jr. wants Crawford
“There’s not a whole lot of tape on him. I know he’s fought someone that I’ve sparred before,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr. to Boxing Social about his little-known opponent Fredrick Lawson. “He’s from Ghana, he’s an African fighter, so they’re tough. They’re here to win. They’re not here to lay down and lose. So, we’re ready for that.”
Ortiz Jr. didn’t look that sharp in his last fight against Michael McKinson in August 2022 and was getting outboxed before stopping the British fighter in the ninth round. He’s going to have to look a lot better than that against Lawson if he wants to impress fans this Saturday night on DAZN.
A year earlier, Vergil Jr. was hurt by Egidijus Kavaliauskas in the early going and was close to being stopped in August 2021. Luckily for Ortiz, Kavaliauskas ran out of gas while going for the KO and couldn’t get his second wind.
“To train specifically for him was hard. So, I worked on general stuff, like my strength,” said Ortiz Jr. “Sometimes, you have a plan, and the fight ends up being completely different and not what you expected it to be, or maybe you see a faster way to do it. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter.
“There’s plus sides for both sides. One, I get the rounds in and kind of makeup for lost time. Two, I get him out of there in less than four rounds. That’s a big statement right there that I’m still the same guy. Either way, it’s a win-win for me. I don’t care,” said Ortiz Jr. about the benefits of getting rounds or getting a fast knockout on Saturday night against Lawson.
“That’s a really good fight. I have a lot of respect for him,” said Ortiz Jr. about Terence Crawford moving up to 154 and his thoughts on potentially facing him in the future. “I wouldn’t say he’s the top pound-for-pound guy. I think he’s definitely top two, and I would love to see what I could do against him,” said Vergil Jr. about his desire to fight Crawford.
“I’m just a competitive person. I don’t have any hate for anyone. I don’t say, ‘I want to fight him because I don’t like him.’ I have respect for every fighter, and I just want to see what I can do against the best,” said Ortiz Jr.
