WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford has been impressed by rising 147lbs star Vergil Ortiz but says he has spotted holes in the young Texan’s game he can exploit.
Crawford was a ringside spectator at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Saturday to run the rule over emerging rival Ortiz (17-0, 17 KOs) in his step up in class against former world champion Maurice Hooker.
Ortiz’s freshness and firepower eventually dropped and stopped Hooker in the seventh, but pound-for-pound star Crawford believes the young pretender, still only 23, needs more seasoning before facing him in the ring.
“I think [Hooker] should’ve used more upper-body movement,” Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) told ‘The Ak & Barak Show’ on DAZN and SiriusXM. “He was getting hit with too many jabs and too many clean shots, pulling out. And also, he was standing too tall, getting hit with some body shots that hurt him and made him take a knee. But honestly I seen Maurice hurt Vergil. When you look at Vergil after the fight, he’s all busted up and stuff.
“And granted, the little kid, he’s talented. But I seen a lot of holes in his game with that [fight]. If me and him was to fight, it would be exploited. And, you know, that’s when a lot of fans would say, ‘Oh, well, you beat this guy that wasn’t this. And you beat this guy without that’. So, I was just like, man, he’s not ready yet. Give him [more time]. Let him grow.”
Main image: Top Rank.