Vergil Ortiz Jr. has a golden opportunity to showcase his skills to the world and prove he is a true world title contender.
On May 4, Ortiz will face Mauricio Herrera in the co-main event of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Daniel Jacobs card in Las Vegas. The fight will be a step up in competition for Ortiz as Herrera has fought a number of former champions, including Danny Garcia and Sadam Ali and Mike Alvarado. But a win over Herrera could potentially catapult Ortiz, ranked No. 9 by the WBO at 140 pounds, into title contention.
Speaking of the WBO, during the undercard press conference, Ortiz believes he could be a worthy opponent to WBO junior welterweight champion Maurice Hooker as both are from Texas and compete on the DAZN streaming service. Ortiz even mentioned IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., saying that he could take him on in a couple of years.
"Hopefully after this fight, I get a world title shot soon. There’s a couple fights out there. Like, Maurice Hooker, we’re both with DAZN. So, Eddie, make the fight with Maurice Hooker happen please? We’re both from Dallas, we’re both on DAZN, I grew up watching Maurice Hooker on Golden Gloves, he knows me as well. In a couple years, I’ll take on Errol Spence too. I don’t mean that like I’m going to go through everybody. I just believe in my ability," Ortiz said.
Fightful will have live coverage of the entire card, taking place at the T-Mobile Arena and being streamed on DAZN. The winner of Canelo vs. Jacobs will walk away with the unified WBA "Super," WBC and IBF middleweight titles.
