Terence Crawford’s Next Move: Vergil Ortiz Jr. Speculates On The Future Of The Boxing Star And A Potential 160-Pound Matchup

Vergil Ortiz Jr. says that if Terence Crawford moves down to 160, the two of them can meet in that weight class once he’s free from the fights he’s got. He doesn’t think Crawford can still make 154 after bulking up for the Canelo Alvarez fight last Saturday.

Would Crawford want to take a potentially grueling fight against the 27-year-old Vergil Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KOs)? I don’t believe he would want this fight, because it could be a lot harder for the soon-to-be 38-year-old Crawford than his match against Canelo.

Vergil Jr. is a relentless attacker, and he won’t stop advancing. If Crawford runs like he did against Canelo, Ortiz Jr. will cut off the ring and force him into exchanges, which would be difficult for him.

Crawford Shows His Age and Decline

For the casual fans who said Crawford looked younger than his age, I must disagree. I’ve watched his fights since turning pro, and he looked nothing like the fighter he was in the past or even the version that beat Errol Spence in 2023. Ortiz Jr. would make Crawford show his age with his pressure and willingness to walk through his shots to land his own.

“He said he would fight at 160. If he were to wait for me, it would be at 160, and it makes sense,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr. to Boxing King Media about Terence Crawford saying he might move down to middleweight next.

Ortiz Jr. has a full schedule with his fight against Erickson Lubin on November 8. After that, there’s a chance he could face Jaron Ennis in early 2026. He’s not going to be free fora fight against Crawford for a while.

“The way his body has changed after his fight at 168, I don’t think he’ll be able to make 154 again. If it were to happen, and I hope it does, it’ll be at 160,” said Ortiz Jr. about his hope for a fight against Crawford.

Vergil Jr. shouldn’t get his hopes up because Crawford didn’t mention him as a possibility for his next fight. If he does move down to 160, it would be to battle one of the middleweight champions to allow him to collect another belt to become a six-division world champion.

Fans believe these are the four options Crawford will pick from for his next fight:

• Canelo Alvarez (rematch)
• Dmitry Bivol
• David Benavidez
• Jaron Ennis

If Crawford is holding out hope for a Canelo rematch at some point in the future, he’s not going to take a risky fight against anyone dangerous.

“He took Canelo’s strengths, and he neutralized them,” said Ortiz.

Crawford did what he usually does, countering, jabbing, and moving a lot. He used more movement against Canelo than he had in his last three fights. He had because he didn’t want to get walked down and nailed while Alvarez was still fresh. He didn’t fight aggressively until late in the contest after Canelo had tired.

It wasn’t an action-packed fight like the undercard contest between WBC interim super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli and Lester Martinez. That match stole the show from the main event and was the one gem on a lackluster card of duds. Turki Alalshikh usually packages great undercards with his Riyadh Season events, but not this time.

The undercard was atrocious, one of the worst I can remember seeing in a big event. I have to go back to the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao event in 2015, when I saw a worse undercard.

It’s unclear if his rationale was to stack the undercard with low-level opposition so that it would make the Canelo vs. Crawford fight look better than it was. It didn’t work. That fight was still a bore to watch, primarily due to Crawford’s running.