Vergil Ortiz Jr See’s a Title Shot in One Year’s Time
Welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr (14-0, 14KO’s) feels that he is a part of very special crop of young boxers. Surrounded by names such as “Fearless” Shakur Stevenson, Devin “The Dream” Haney, Teofimo “El Brooklyn” Lopez and many others, Ortiz is of the belief that they will make this a special era in the sport. Honestly speaking, if each lives up to their billing, it’s believable that its going to be a remarkable time.
“I think that I’m definitely up there, I definitely think that this generation of boxing that’s coming up is going to be one of the strongest ones. I grew up with all these guys that I’ve known since the amateurs and we’re here. We’re not here to play.” ~Vergil Ortiz Jr
When looking at Vergil Ortiz’s resume, thus far he is doing everything that he should be. Not only is he winning in impressive fashion, the hard-hitting boxer totes a perfect 100% knockout ratio. In his last bout on August 10, against Antonio Orozco (28-2, 17KO’s), Ortiz fought to a career-long six rounds. Up to now, his ramrod jab, diverse punching and withering body attack have proven more than his competition can handle.
In his estimation, the 21-year-old boxer sees himself challenging for a title in a year’s time. Let him tell it though, he has all the requisite tools to face a champion now. However, he understands that he has to work his way into position. He also is aware that politics will play a huge part in his championship ambitions.
“I feel like I just need to maybe grow a little bit more. Maybe I think, a year minimal, I mean max. I think by then I’ll for sure be ready. But at the same time, I’m not going to start taking easy fights, you know. I don’t want my next fights to be easier than the last fight. The only way I’m going to grow is by taking these hard fights, but you know what? If they wanna offer me a world title shot this next fight, I would be happy to take it.”
Currently, three of the four recognized belts are held by PBC fighters. This potentially poses a big problem being that Ortiz is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. He is well aware of the frictional history of the two companies. So, while he may remain confident that he’ll nab a title shot, Ortiz is bracing himself for the inevitable hurdles that will come in order to secure one, as he revealed in an interview for Fight Hype.
It’ll be an interesting and fun experience watching Vergil Ortiz Jr’s destructive journey on this quest to become a champion.
“I mean the welterweight division is locked down. If they’re willing to try to push me towards getting a title, you know because it’s going to be kind of hard with the PBC and all that. And I understand that PBC and Golden Boy have a little history and that being the case, I wouldn’t want to do business with them either because, you know, Golden Boy has been so good to me. So, I know it’s going to be. I know it’s going to be a little harder, challenging to find a way through all that stuff, but I’m going to get that world title.”
By: Bakari Simpson
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