Oscar De La Hoya likes the idea of matching his fighter Vergil Ortiz Junior with Errol Spence Junior; the fight will take place at the Cowboy Stadium in Texas sometime next year. De La Hoya took to social media to pitch the fight:
“@VergilOrtiz vs. @ErrolSpenceJr Cowboy Stadium next year,” De La Hoya wrote on X late last night.
Spence, 28-1(22), has not fought since being badly and comprehensively beaten by Terence Crawford in their welterweight unification fight in July of last year, and it looks like “The Truth” will challenge Sebastian Fundora for his two belts at 154 pounds, the fight likely for January. And De La Hoya wants Spence, if he comes through against “The Towering Inferno,” to then face the unbeaten Ortiz. It’s an interesting proposition for sure, even if some of us would prefer to see Ortiz grant Serhii Bohachuk a rematch (if Bohachuk gets past Israil Madrimov in December).
But can Spence beat Fundora, 21-1-1(13)? How much did that beating at the hands of Crawford take out of Spence? It has been a long time since Spence won a fight, and he really did take a hammering from “Bud,” the fight that was expected to be a close affair, maybe even a modern-day classic, instead turned into a one-sided beatdown.
At age 34, and after being hurt in that nasty car smash of a few years back, Spence really has it all to prove against Fundora. It’s a very risky fight for Spence against such a tall and dangerous fighter. And De La Hoya wants Spence to go straight into a fight with Ortiz afterward!
Again, we must wait and see what Spence looks like in the Fundora fight before we can look ahead to any other big fights involving him. Can Spence bounce back, or is he damaged goods?
