Vergil Ortiz Jr. poised to benefit from Canelo Alvarez-Turki Alalshikh beef

As if two fighters nearing a title shot, bringing close to a 100 percent knockout rate isn’t enough, Saturday’s Vergil Ortiz-Serhii Bohachuk junior-middleweight bout now has the full attention of the sport’s new fight-making wizard, Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh.

Texas’ Ortiz (21-0, 21 KOs), coming off a crushing first-round body-blow knockout of veteran Thomas Dulorme, was floated Saturday night by Alalshikh as a next opponent for new four-division and World Boxing Association champion Terence Crawford if talks with Canelo Alvarez failed to materialize.

Those talks have not only failed to materialize, a good-sized rift is now brewing between the sides after Alvarez rebuffed a meeting with Alalshikh over a proposed discussion about his next fight following Alvarez’s Sept. 14 super-middleweight title defense against Edgar Berlanga.

In a post on “X” early Wednesday morning, Alalshikh wrote, “I heard what Canelo said – that he respects me but doesn’t like the way we do business. As for him respecting me, it doesn’t matter to me if he does or not. As for the way I do business, I know why he doesn’t like it, because I only target big fights at fair prices, so of course anyone who likes easy fights won’t like that.

“And I know how he feels after losing to (Dmitrii) Bivol, so he’s been looking for easier fights ever since. Also, I’m not the one who’s afraid of fighting (David) Benavidez or Crawford. Therefore, I knew he was wasting our time and making excuses with big amounts of money that can’t be paid. So I’m continuing my way to make big fights that serve the boxing world, and he’s on his way to making easy show-only fights.”

In other words, Crawford needs a new front-runner for his next fight, and the mention of Ortiz, 26, makes him the anointed one – as long as he defeats Bohachuk Saturday night on DAZN at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

On Tuesday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Big Fight Breakdown,” analysts Paulie Malignaggi, Chris Algieri and Teddy Atlas broke down Ortiz-Bohachuk.

“This is no gimme. With this style, this could be bombs away with a quick ending or a war,” former welterweight champion Malignaggi said. “Both guys are capable, tenacious and big, big punchers.”

Ukraine’s Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs), who wears the World Boxing Council’s interim junior-middleweight belt, was due to fight current WBC/World Boxing Organization 154-pound champion Sebastian Fundora in March before Keith Thurman withdrew from his title fight against Tim Tszyu, moving Fundora to an upset over a badly bloodied Tszyu and Bohachuk to a unanimous-decision victory over Brian Mendoza.

Atlas is impressed with each fighter’s power punching, but he referred to that asset as an occasional “curse” for fighters who “don’t develop the things around it.”

That could be revealed Saturday night, if the bout scheduled for 12 rounds stretches past the ninth for the first time in Ortiz’s career.

“It’s a really intriguing fight … Bohachuk is a solid guy who does everything behind the jab. Will (trainer Robert) Garcia and Vergil Ortiz counter the right hand over the jab?” Atlas wonders.

And, “Bohachuk has a chin of granite,” Algieri noted.

“This potentially could become some kind of fight,” Malignaggi said. “The explosiveness on both sides thrills you.”

Before the profile-raising mention of Ortiz by Alalshikh, Algieri said, “In terms of the names and money Terence Crawford is looking for, Vergil Ortiz is not there yet. I feel like he needs more.”

An impressive Saturday victory not only moves Ortiz to the front of the WBC line for Fundora – who also is considering Crawford, along with former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. – it could convince Alalshikh to more deeply press for (and make) Crawford-Ortiz for either his Dec. 21 or February 2025 cards in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ortiz told BoxingScene now that he’s recovered from health issues that sidelined him for all of 2023 he wants a string of major fights in the rich division.

“If you’re fighting tough fight after fight after fight, you’re not going to see a guy go on a run … you’re either going to get knocked off or you’re not going to look perfect,” Malignaggi warned. “But you got entertainment! And, unlike the UFC, which uses this model, you’re actually getting paid so it’s worthwhile to take the risk.”

With Tszyu, Fundora and Spence still lurking, “this is a (mostly) young, strong weight class.”

“Vergil Ortiz would be a much bigger star if it wasn’t for that snakebitten year (off),” Algieri added.

Saturday’s fight, however, is the third of this year for Ortiz.

He’s making up for lost time rapidly, and should he dispose of Bohachuk in a convincing way, he and Alalshikh will be ideally positioned to box in Crawford.

Unlike Alvarez, Crawford is more beholden to Alalshikh as a “Riyadh Season ambassador” and someone who’s already accepted millions of those Saudi funds by defeating another 20-something talent in Israil Madrimov on Saturday.