Vergil Ortiz Jr.: Maurice Hooker 'will be the toughest fight of my career'
Welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr. (16-0, 16 KOs) faces former champion Maurice Hooker (27-1-3) on Saturday, March 20 in the main event of a card streamed on DAZN.
Video Transcript
KEVIN IOLE: Hey, folks. I am Kevin Iole. And thank you for joining Yahoo Sports.
And it is my pleasure now to welcome one of the best young fighters in the world. You will see him fight on March 20 in a welterweight fight, I think in the toughest fight of his career on the zone against Maurice Hooker, Vergil Ortiz. Vergil, how's it going, my man?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Hey, it's been pretty good, you know? I'm just here in California training, and nice weather, and all that stuff. How about you?
KEVIN IOLE: I'm doing awesome, really looking forward to your fight. The welterweight division's got a lot going on, a lot of really good fighters at the top. You, of course, are one of those. You know, would you agree with my assessment that Maurice Hooker represents the toughest fight that you've had in your career so far?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: I agree completely. You know, he's been in there with the best. He's held a world title before. You know, he has a long reach.
He's in his prime still. He's 31 years old. And that's one of the big things right there.
He only has one loss, and that's to a world champion. That's not unified. So yeah, I think so. I think this is gonna be the toughest fight of my career.
KEVIN IOLE: When you look at that, and you're coming up, and you're fighting a really good fighter, the best fighter, I think, by far that you've faced, and you haven't been as active as you used to be, does that present any problems? And do you adjust for that in training in any way?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: I mean, you know, I don't think that it shows any problems at all. You know, I've been in the gym training almost every day even when I didn't have a fight. You know, we're just staying ready, just waiting for that call for if I'm ready to fight at any time of the year, you know?
But I don't think that it's gonna be that big of a deal, you know? I did only fight one time last year. I wish I could've fought more. So did he, you know? So I really don't think it's gonna be that big of a deal.
KEVIN IOLE: You have been now one of the things that I think the reason you're so popular is that punching power you have, other than that big smile on your face that people like, right? That punching power you have. And you're starting to now get into that age where people say boxers tend to develop their man strength.
Do you feel like you're even adding to your power? You know, you kind of had, you know, mythical, legendary power when you were younger. Like, as you're getting to this point now, do you feel like you're punching even harder than you had been?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: I think so, yeah, honestly. And, you know, there's different types of power too. I feel like I'm throwing hard when I'm not even trying to.
And I'm starting to learn, you know, there's different skills to the powers. You know, power's a skill. It's not just, like, a physical attribute.
KEVIN IOLE: And so when you say that you're starting to learn, like, you're just kind of-- instead of, like, really trying to hit, you're just letting your arm snap, and you're creating that speed, which is bringing the power?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. I can bring down that sledgehammer power. I can bring snapping power. There's different types of power out there, and I can do a few of them.
KEVIN IOLE: When you look at Vergil, and you see-- excuse me. When you you look at Maurice and you see what he has done in his career, you know, do you see any weakness in terms of what he did against Ramirez? Ramirez seemed to, you know, really concentrate a lot on attacking his body and then seemed to wear him down.
Now, I know he was having trouble making the weight at that point. And I don't know. Maybe when you watched that fight, you attribute it to him struggling to make 140 pounds. But do you see anything in the Ramirez fight that you can take advantage of in your fight?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Oh, yeah. Definitely. I mean, without giving, like, too much of it away, you know, he doesn't do that good inside because-- I think it's because he has such a long reach that he has to be able to keep me out and use his reach to his advantage, you know? He can't stay inside to where I'm comfortable fighting at, you know, because my arms are obviously shorter than his. So if you have longer arms, you tend to fight outside a little more.
KEVIN IOLE: And it seemed like, you know, you-- I mean, I think one of the things that [INAUDIBLE] Oscar's so high on you is the versatility you have. It seems like you seem like a guy that would be comfortable if you got in a fight where you had to box and be, you know, working the jab and everything that you're comfortable that way.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Yeah, definitely. And you know what? That's one of the things that I like doing. I like to beat people at their game, you know? I like to show them not only can I beat you at my game, I'm gonna show you that I can beat you at yours. I can do better than what you're doing.
KEVIN IOLE: If you do that-- let's say you do that in the beginning of the fight, you know, against Mo. Do you think mentally it gets in his mind, like, hey, this is what I'm supposed to be best at, and he's winning the fight? Like, where does he you just when you attack him at his best strength? And, you know, do you think that that is a real thing?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Honestly, yeah. I actually do that on purpose. It kind of seems kind of sinister, but I like to break them down mentally. When you're broken down mentally, you don't know what to do. That's when everything starts crumbling down.
KEVIN IOLE: Have you had that happen to you, like, when you were young? You know, I know you've been fighting, you know, in the gym against top guys for a long time. You know, when you were in the gym, have you had any veterans kind of try that trick on you where you picked it up at?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Man, I think the only guy that's ever done that to me is Mikey Garcia. The first time I sparred him three years ago, he really showed me that there was levels to boxing. And I'll tell you what. I grew exponentially after that sparring session, and I became a complete different fighter.
KEVIN IOLE: Wow. What did he do? Like, you know, give us an idea of what happened there. Because that'd be a fight, like, right now, if you told me you were gonna be fighting Mikey next, I'd be into that fight.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Yeah.
KEVIN IOLE: What did he do in that sparring session?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: I mean, he basically ate all my punches. He ate all my punches, and he tired me out. He threw maybe, like, 10 punches that round. And I'm over here trying to break him down, throw to the body, throw to the head. Everything that I landed, you know, just deflected.
KEVIN IOLE: Right.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: You know, it was crazy. And so basically, what I learned from that is I have to make sure that every punch counts. And that's what a lot of people see out of me now.
Like, everyone says that-- I hear the commentator be, like, he makes every single punch count. They're not just hard. He's throwing them with conviction. You know, they have a meaning and all that stuff. So a lot of that came from that one sparring session, just those four rounds with Mikey.
KEVIN IOLE: Obviously, I didn't know that you sparred Mikey. But, you know, like, one of the things I would've always said about you is that-- and I wonder if you think this is, you know, some reason for your success-- you're a pretty accurate puncher. Like, you know, when you see an opening, you're able to connect with it.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Yeah. That's what I like to do. You know, I don't like to waste punches. You know, wasting punches, not only are you wasting your energy, but you're wasting the surprise, you know?
If you haven't thrown that punch before, you have a secret punch up your arsenal. And you go for it right away, and now he sees it. He sees what you're trying to do. It's no longer a surprise.
So sometimes you just gotta wait for the right moment. You gotta throw other stuff too, keep him busy. And when the time's right, you know it.
KEVIN IOLE: I want to ask you, you know, you have a WBA Championship. You know, the WBA is notorious for having a ton of championships. You know, they have other guys.
You know, Ugás is in your weight class with a belt. How does it make you feel as a champion when you look, and you look in the rankings, and there's other guys that have it, and you look up and down the WBA roster and see that? As a fighter, does it bother you?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: It doesn't necessarily bother me. Sometimes I feel like I don't know exactly where I stand at, you know? But I just know that being one of the title holders, they do have some kind of future in mind for me. So I always keep that in mind.
KEVIN IOLE: Is unification on your mind? I mean, you know, you look, and you have Terence Crawford is, you know, maybe the best fighter in the world by some people's mind. Errol Spence may be the best fighter in the world in some people's mind.
You know, you're kind of out there as maybe the next level guy down that people are looking at. Do you feel like unification is a legit thing, especially since it looks like Errol and Terence may not get together?
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Definitely. You know, I think that once I get a world title in this division, I definitely want to get a unification fight. That's the plan. That's always the plan.
I want to be undisputed. I want to show people that, you know, this generation is something different. You know, we're not gonna sit here and blame other promoters or other fighters for not wanting a fight.
I guarantee you that this generation's gonna want to fight each other. We're not gonna be scared. We want everyone.
KEVIN IOLE: I love that. You know, and I've been writing that. I think, you know, there's so many good, young, talented fighters in the world. But a lot of times, promoters don't let you guys fight each other and say, now's not the time, whatever.
Why do you think it is? You know, Devin Haney said the same thing to me. And I've heard other fighters say that. Why do you think it is that you guys say 25 and less are coming up with that attitude, which is different than, you know, say, Floyd's generation, Floyd Mayweather's generation? They were more about, hey, being careful and fighting guys at the right time.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: I don't know. You know what? I just feel like-- I'm not exactly sure why people are like that.
But I can tell you this. I think I get my mindset, I mean, not only from how I was raised, but if I had to set an example, give an example, it would be Oscar De La Hoya. That dude fought everyone.
KEVIN IOLE: Yep.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: He fought everyone. And he didn't give a single excuse why he couldn't fight anyone. He fought everyone at their very best. You know, not only did he fight everyone, he fought them at their prime.
And that's someone I want to be. You can't discredit any of his wins at all, you know? He's one of the true fighters out there, one of the most true fighters that I can think of. And that's what I want to be.
KEVIN IOLE: I covered almost all the fights of Oscar's career, you know, back from his pro debut. I remember that. And, you know, I agree with you. You're 100% right.
I have a favorite Oscar fight that I talked about a lot. You know, there's really two in my mind, but one more than the other. And I just want to see, do you have a favorite Oscar fight that when you tell people about Oscar that maybe you don't know him that you would bring up.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Let me see. I mean, besides to Mayweather fight-- I remember that fight like it was yesterday. Besides that one, who did he fight? Let me see.
KEVIN IOLE: Well, I'll give you my two. I'll tell you my two and see if you agree with me. Fernando Vargas and Ike Quartey. And my favorite one is his performance against Ike Quartey.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Yeah. You know what? That was one of the ones that I was thinking of when I first started talking about him in this interview. I do like that fight. That was a really good fight right there.
And you know what? Fernando Vargas too, that was a pretty good one too. That was definitely-- I mean, not only was it good for the fans, but I think it was good for them too because, you know, they had a beef going on.
KEVIN IOLE: Right.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: And it was personal, you know? It's always a better fight when it's personal.
KEVIN IOLE: I remember they had to glass-- at the weigh-in, they had them separated. They had the big glass up so they couldn't get to each other.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Yeah.
KEVIN IOLE: That's how crazy it was.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: Yeah, man. Like the pandemic started early.
KEVIN IOLE: Exactly. No doubt. Well, hey, Vergil, I appreciate you, brother. I wish you the best of luck.
On March 20 on [INAUDIBLE], Vergil Ortiz will be fighting Maurice Hooker. Look forward to seeing that fight. Vergil, thanks a lot. You're one of the good guys in boxing. I really appreciate you, brother.
VERGIL ORTIZ JR: I appreciate you. Thanks for having me.