Terence Crawford is yet to be bested in the ring over a 40-fight, 16-year professional campaign.
After becoming undisputed at welterweight – the second division in which he captured all four belts and third in which he was champion – the 36-year-old from Omaha recently moved up to the 154lb ranks to beat Israil Madrimov over the distance for the WBA belt.
The weight-class brings with it fresh opportunities for Crawford, adamant he still hasn’t reached his ceiling in terms of how big he can go. One man who wants the fight is Vergil Ortiz Jr, who has built good momentum this year after a frustrating period hampered by illness.
Speaking to ES News, four-weight world champion Mikey Garcia talked up Ortiz’ chances against ‘Bud.’
“Crawford might not be at his prime. Skill-wise, he still has it but you saw the difference in the fight [with Madrimov], the size, the weight might’ve started to hurt him. He’s not as effective as he was in the welterweight division or lower. His power might not carry as much.
And then you’ve got Virgil, who’s huge, he’s a big dude. It would be for us as far as styles, but you’ve got the power and size in our advantage. I think you’ve got that going for Virgil. Again, if Crawford is not in his prime anymore, all it takes it one fight, one training camp, and all of the sudden it’s the end of his career and Vergil can really take advantage.”
Ortiz – trained by Mikey’s brother and coach Robert Garcia – is unlikely to land the fight. In fact, Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshikh’s last update on it was that he believed Crawford would turn it down.
As for Ortiz, he may see himself rematching Serhii Bohachuk – a majority decision win last month that many felt he was fortunate to get his hand raised.
