In his return to the ring, Vergil Ortiz Jr. barely broke a sweat by producing a first-round TKO of Fredrick Lawson on Saturday night.
Moments after collecting his 20th career victory by stoppage — and first win as a junior middleweight — the undefeated 25-year-old didn't waste time calling out one of the 154-pound world champions.
"There's a lot of fighters that I want to fight and I know people would love to see this fight so Tim Tszyu — with all respect — I would love to fight you," a victorious Ortiz told DAZN in the ring at the The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. "I think you're a hell of a fighter and let's make it happen."
He added: "It's all business. I'm a competitive person. I want to fight the best."
To that, Ortiz's Golden Boy Promotions promoter Oscar De La Hoya tacked on that his charge would even be willing to travel to Tszyu's native Australia to challenge for the WBO junior middleweight world title on the champ's soil.
Tszyu took to his X account to let Ortiz know that he's game.
"Yo @VergilOrtiz Welcome to the "54 club," Tszyu wrote on X.
"I'm always keen for a modern day classic."
Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs) scored a unanimous decision win over Brian Mendoza in October to become the new WBO junior middleweight world titleholder.
Prior to Ortiz's quick win, which only took 2:30 Saturday night, the Grand Prairie, Texas product hadn't fought since August 2022.