Tim Tszyu saw all that he needed from Vergil Ortiz Jr’s brief ring appearance to know he found the perfect future rival.
Both boxers expressed an interest in a head-on collision in the aftermath of Ortiz’s junior middleweight debut this past Saturday atop a DAZN show from Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. A first-round stoppage of Fredrick Lawson was dismissed by many as a quick stoppage by referee Tony Weeks, though optimists celebrated the return of one of the sport’s more prominent finishers who maintained his perfect knockout to win ratio.
The latter seemed to be the takeaway from Tszyu’s viewpoint.
“Yo, Vergil Ortiz, welcome to the ’54 club,” Tszyu posted on his verified X account immediately after Ortiz’s latest hit. “I’m always keen for a modern-day classic.”
Tszyu (24-0, 17KOs) currently holds the WBO junior middleweight title and is hopeful of a fight date within the first quarter of 2024. It very likely won’t come versus Ortiz (20-0, 20KOs), who mentioned the second-generation titleholder among other top players in the 154-pound division during his post-fight interview as a desired future option. The 25-year-old knockout artist from Grand Prairie, Texas hadn’t fought since August 2022 and was no longer able to maintain a welterweight frame. He was left with back-to-back canceled fight dates and nothing else to show for his 2023 campaign. The hope for the year ahead after a successful junior middleweight debut. is a minimum of three fights. His 153-second showing on Saturday left plenty of room for a second fight in the very near future.
The fact that Australia’s Tszyu (24-0, 17KOs) is eagerly open to the matchup was music to Ortiz’s ears.
“I knew you would be, man,” Ortiz said in response to Tszyu’s friendly callout. “Let’s do it.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox