Oscar De La Hoya, speaking once again with Fight Hub TV, made a very good point regarding Terence Crawford and the backlash his next fight is likely to receive. De La Hoya stated that, after reaching the top of the mountain in defeating “the man,” Canelo Alvarez, whoever Crawford fights next, “it won’t be good enough” in the eyes of so many people.
Oscar’s point is, after such a massive fight, promotion and win, how can “Bud” top his September 13th victory? Now, Crawford might not even box again, we will have to wait and see. But De La Hoya feels Crawford will “have a very difficult time” choosing where he goes from the historic Canelo win.
Crawford vs. Vergil Ortiz At 160 — Dream Fight Or Risky Gamble?
But the Golden Boy head has a plan: why not a Terence Crawford-Vergil Ortiz fight at 160 pounds? Ortiz, one of the most exciting fighters out there today, faces Erickson Lubin next, but after that, assuming he gets the ‘W,’ De La Hoya says why not Ortiz against Crawford up at middleweight (or down at 160 in Crawford’s case)?
“He beat ‘the man,’ right? Where do you got from there?” Oscar said regarding Crawford and his immediate future. “He’s going to have a very difficult time dealing with the media, with the fans. Because any fighter he chooses to fight next is not going to be good enough. Because he already beat the top dog. I strongly feel – and I know we’ve got Vergil Ortiz-Erickson Lubin [next] – and I don’t like to dream too far….But, hey, what about, if Vergil gets past Lubin, what about Vergil and Crawford at 160? Imagine that. It would be incredible. There is a good possibility that Crawford will stay at 168, or maybe most likely go down to 160. I don’t think he’ll touch 154. I think he’ll stay at 160 eventually and look for the biggest fights. And the biggest fight for him is Vergil Ortiz.”
Would Crawford Risk His Perfect Record Against A Rising Star?
Some very interesting prospective matchmaking from De La Hoya. But would 38 year old Crawford want to risk his perfect record against a young buck like Ortiz? What would a win over Ortiz do for Crawford’s legacy? Sure, Crawford’s rep would go up even more as he would be showing that he is willing to fight the young terrors of the sport, but Ortiz hasn’t even fought at 160 yet. How would fans react if this fight did happen and Crawford outboxed Ortiz and won wide on the cards?
But whether or not a Crawford-Ortiz fight does happen (the thinking here is that it will not happen), De La Hoya has made a good point: just what does Crawford do next, and can he possibly please everyone?
