Vergil Ortiz Jr. has had it rough lately. Just when he was seemingly at the top of his game and ready to take on the world, his career came to a complete standstill. For the entirety of 2023, Ortiz has been in and out of the medical tent. Due to his difficulties remaining healthy, he was forced to withdraw on multiple occasions from his showdown against Eimantas Stanionis.

All in all, Ortiz’s problems stemmed from weight issues. He immured himself in a room, looked in a mirror, and came to the conclusion that fighting at 147 pounds simply wasn't sagacious. So, although he was holding out hope that he could stick around long enough to win a world title, Ortiz is officially washing his hands of the welterweight division and moving on to 154 pounds.

Greeting Ortiz at the junior middleweight door will be Fredrick Lawson on January 6th. Robert Garcia, Ortiz’s trainer, has been working night and day with Ortiz to make sure everything goes smoothly in the next few weeks. But while Garcia is focusing on Lawson, he still has an eye on a number of potential big fights.

Of course, Garcia wants his fighter to get his feet wet and feel comfortable. However, he doesn't believe that he’ll have much issues getting rid of Lawson. The junior middleweight division has a ton of marquee names to tango with but Garcia is interested in swiftly moving Ortiz to another weight class entirely.

The 25-year-old always knew that he would eventually compete at 160 pounds, but Garcia is convinced that it could happen as soon as next year. It might be more of an unrealistic dream at the moment, but Garcia has a strong feeling that not only could Ortiz be a major player in the middleweight division but he also wholeheartedly believes that he’s good enough to beat arguably the best fighter at 160 pounds right now.

“I wouldn't mind watching him against (Jermall) Charlo,” said Garcia during an interview with 210 Boxing TV. “The one who just fought Jose Benavidez. I would love that fight. Why not? That would be a f------ beautiful fight.”

Charlo is sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place. He recently ended a two-and-a-half year layoff by putting a beating on Jose Benavidez Jr. He hasn’t officially given up his WBC middleweight title but for his showdown against Benavidez, he jumped onto the scales weighing over 166 pounds. Charlo has also mentioned that he plans on moving on to the super middleweight division sometime soon.

As for how Charlo looked following his protracted stint on the sidelines, Garcia was impressed by what he saw. The revered trainer isn’t looking at the pugnacious champ as' easy pickins’ but rather, he’s just incredibly confident in his talented fighter.

“Charlo’s good but I think Vergil can fight the best in the world.”