LAS VEGAS – With a wealth of options in boxing’s deepest division, Oscar De La Hoya said the latest talks point a victorious Vergil Ortiz Jr. toward his first title against Tim Tszyu.
Much still needs to transpire, with Ortiz (21-0, 21 KOs) entering the Mandalay Bay ring Saturday night against rugged World Boxing Council interim 154-pound champion Serhii Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs).
But De La Hoya said his latest discussion with Saudi Arabia-based power broker Turki Alalshikh is aiming Ortiz at Australia’s former World Boxing Organization champion Tszyu.
Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) has work to do as well days after the International Boxing Federation made him the mandatory challenger to new champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs), with 30 days to negotiate a deal.
“The plan is winning Saturday and becoming (interim) world champion. There’s a possibility (then) of Ortiz fighting Tim Tszyu later this year,” De La Hoya told BoxingScene before the Ortiz-Bohachuk news conference. “That’s the ideal (path): Fighting Tszyu and then fighting the king, (unbeaten four-division and new World Boxing Association champion) Terence Crawford.”
It appeared Saturday night that Crawford would turn to Ortiz if his push to create a super-fight against fellow four-division champion Canelo Alvarez failed (and it did). Alalshikh named Ortiz as the most likely alternate foe Saturday night.
However, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is facing a deadline next week to decide to relinquish his WBO welterweight belt and invoke a mandatory challenge of WBO/WBC 154-pound champion Sebastian Fundora by year’s end.
A source familiar with the situation said Crawford has verbally committed to surrendering the 147-belt, but the WBO – as of Thursday early afternoon – had yet to receive official notification from his attorney of the move.
Fundora defeated Tszyu by split decision in a bloody battle in Las Vegas, and Fundora’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, told BoxingScene Thursday that he is waiting to hear from the WBO and Crawford since he prefers his fighter retain both belts and accommodate Alalshikh.
Lewkowicz said he is confident Fundora can defeat Crawford, who turns 37 next month and had a tough test in defeating Israil Madrimov Saturday.
If the Crawford negotiations with Fundora fail to strike a deal, the WBO will strip Fundora of his belt.
He has a solid second option since former three-belt welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. was there to call out Fundora in the ring in March, and Texas’ Spence offers the support of a strong crowd in AT&T Stadium outside Dallas.
Lewkowicz said Fundora has fully recovered from the bloody nose he suffered in the Tszyu fight and will be ready to fight in October, preferring to fight in the U.S.
Said De La Hoya: “I’ve talked to His Excellency Turki and the plan (for Ortiz) was to fight Tszyu,” who was unable to keep an Aug. 3 bout in Los Angeles with Ortiz due to the grisly head cut he suffered in the Fundora loss.
Ortiz, who has experienced health issues that kept him out of the ring in 2023, is fully recovered and on track to make weight Friday for Bohachuk, two sources close to Ortiz, 26, told BoxingScene Thursday afternoon.
“He will make weight. He does want to become champion. It’s going to be hell in there. That’s the bottom line. For both fighters,” De La Hoya said of Saturday’s bout.
First, Ortiz needs to win.
“So many great fights to be made. It’s just matter of making them, so we’re thrilled that His Excellency is loving boxing and wants to make these big fights,” De La Hoya said. “I’m so happy that we have somebody like him, because he can deliver those fights. He’s like a blessing to the sport, and he’s got a big schedule in mind.”
Read the full article here
