This week, 100 percent KO rate of 100 percent of boxing sensation Virgil Ortiz Jr. (19 knockouts wins) said he plans to square off against the legendary Terence Crawford in the 154-pound ultra-welterweight division, and if that bout takes shape, it's definitely worth looking forward to.
Ortiz revealed that a clash with Crawford will be one of his main plans for 2024, but it is unclear whether it will take shape, so it is more like Ortiz's "vision".
Crawford is yet to decide what to do next, and he finished Errol Spence in July to unify the entire 147-pound welterweight division and claim all four belts in his division. According to the terms of the contract, Crawford will need to play a rematch with Spence next, but the rematch has not been negotiated for various reasons, and it is really unclear when it will be played.
It has been rumored that Crawford will fight 154 pounds next, and the rematch with Spence is likely to be at 154 pounds, and then he will compete with other big names in his division, so this has brought him closer to Ortiz somewhat. Ortiz will take the stage tomorrow (Jan. 7) against Frederick Lawson, who made his first career appearance at 154 pounds, and he's hoping to get a bigger chance after finishing this matchup, including a fight against Crawford.
"It's going to be a great fight, I have a lot of respect for Crawford, I wouldn't say he's the best P4P fighter, but he's definitely in the top 2 on the P4P list and I'm excited to see what I can do to deal with Crawford," Ortiz said. I'm a very competitive person, but I don't have a hate for anyone, I don't say I don't like you, I want to fight you, I respect every fighter, I just want to see what I can do against them. ”
There is a lot of relationship between Ortiz and Crawford, when Crawford was only the WBO welterweight champion, Ortiz was his No. 1 challenger, and theoretically the two sides must fight, but for some reason, Otiz later lost the position of WBO No. 1 boxer, and then became the No. 1 fighter of WBA, so he failed to fight Crawford, hoping that the two sides can compete in the future.
Ortiz wants to face the 36-year-old, who will not see Otiz as an ideal opponent. Today, Crawford just wants to play money-making fights with big names, such as challenging 154-pound supremacy Guimmel Charlo and even moving up to a higher division against Carneiro Alvarez. Compared to Charlo and Alvarez, Ortiz is clearly not a big name fighter to arouse Crawford's interest, and he still needs to work on changing himself.
For Ortiz to be interested in Crawford, in addition to a match for Lawson tomorrow, he will need to defeat at least one of the division's two current champions, Jimmel Charlo and Tim Tszyu. Personally, I think that after Ortiz's victory over Lawson, it may be a bit suspenseful to challenge Charlo and Zyou, not that he is not strong, but that his form needs to continue to improve, in this case, Ortiz may be more suitable to choose Brian Mendoza, Eric Rubin, and Sebastian Fontola.
Ortiz is regarded as one of the most regrettable fighters affected by injuries, and I hope that the injury will not continue to affect him, otherwise a generation of talent may fall, and I also hope that Ortiz can fight Crawford one day, after all, this match is very interesting and suspenseful.