Vergil Ortiz with his devastating punching power is the hottest prospect in boxing.
The 21-year-old Texan just knocked out Brad Solomon to improve his record to 15 and 0 with 15 knockouts. He is a true knockout artist in every sense of the word and one of the most dangerous young fighters in the sport.
Even though he is considered a prospect, the WBA already granted him a Gold title belt, he is next in line to fight either Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao who owns the “Super” title which is the official belt or the “Regular” champion Alexander Besputin.
In the pecking order of the WBA rankings, Pacquiao is at the top, followed by Besputin and Ortiz.
A fighter like Ortiz is special. What makes him special is his ability to knockout his opponents with either hand and that is a true puncher. He is still young and getting better with every fight, so you haven’t seen the best of him yet.
He isn’t a flash in the pan either, and has already proven to be a legit fighter when he destroyed the very difficult veteran Mauricio Herrera.
Herrera is a crafty boxer who gives everyone he fights a difficult time. Ortiz did something nobody did to Herrera, he knocked him out.
Before his bout with Herrera people thought he would finally go the distance and the experience and chin of his older opponent would make it hard for him to get the KO, but he proved the critics wrong and blasted him out in 3 rounds it was the first time Herrera was knocked out in his career and it was like a young Mike Tyson moment.
Herrera who is 39, was obviously long in the tooth by the time Ortiz faced him but give credit where credit is due he still knocked him out.
Manny Pacquiao could face Ortiz but it’s a long shot since the Filipino legend is currently on the other side of the street with Al Haymon and PBC and Ortiz is with Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions. Oscar and Haymon are sort of enemies in the sport, and that fight is a very difficult one to make.
I’m kinda happy that Pacquiao vs. Ortiz likely won’t happen because I fear for Pacquiao’s health against a young powerful puncher like Ortiz.
I’ve held the same view that Pacquiao should pick his next fights carefully to avoid any long lasting damage before he retires. He will be 41 when he steps back into the ring and age could show up in his next fight.
Pacquiao is at the stage of his career where he has done everything and has nothing else to prove. He just beat a young undefeated world champion in Keith Thurman, making him the oldest welterweight champion in history and he is already the only 8-division world champion.
Taking on a young knockout artist like Ortiz does nothing for Pacquiao, it does everything for Ortiz because should he get that title shot and knockout Pacquiao it makes him a overnight sensation.
The risk versus reward is just not worth it, Pacquiao should try to get a Floyd Mayweather rematch or take on Mikey Garcia in the Philippines next and retire. I don’t want the great Manny Pacquiao to become a stepping stone for up and coming boxers.
