By: Hans Themistode
Legally, Vergil Ortiz is barely allowed to drink liquor. However, that isn’t stopping his current trainer in Robert Garcia from believing his man is ready to face who many believe is the best fighter in the world.
“We are going after Crawford,” said Garcia during an interview with Little Giant Boxing. “That’s the fight we’re going after right now. I think Vergil is ready.”
Obtaining a fight with Crawford, the WBO 147 pound champion, could be much easier than many anticipate due to Ortiz (16-0, 16 KOs) ranking number two in the sanctioning body. But while a win over Crawford would stun the boxing world, the Dallas native has a major roadblock standing in his way in the form of one-time 140 champion Maurice Hooker.
The two are scheduled to meet in the main event slot at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on March 20th. Hooker, 31, is considered by far the toughest fight of Vergil’s career. A win is far from guaranteed, but if Vergil can pull it off, Garcia believes his welterweight contender would be in the best position possible to land a shot at Crawford.
“If everything goes well in the Hooker fight, we want Crawford next. Vergil is already ranked in the top two in the rankings, something like that. Golden Boy and Top Rank have been working together and doing championship fights together so I think it’s the easiest fight to make.”
After spending years facing what many would consider less than stellar opposition, Crawford is now staring down the barrel of a long line of several top contenders. Outside of a possible showdown with Ortiz, Crawford is rumored to be in the running to face either eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao or former two-time 147-pound belt holder, Shawn Porter. The pound-for-pound star was last seen in the ring roughly four months ago.
In an empty MGM Grand arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Crawford delivered a one-sided beating to former champion Kell Brook, dropping and later stopping the British native in the fourth round.