Jamaine Ortiz is confident that he would defeat Shakur Stevenson were the pair to meet.
Stevenson became WBC lightweight champion on Thursday in an underwhelming showing against Edwin De Los Santos that had many questioning whether he had the talent to make it at 135lbs.
However others, including Bob Arum, believe that a one-off sub-par performance means little, given he is only 26 years old.
A shoulder injury was mentioned as mitigation for his efforts, but Ortiz is unconvinced.
Asked by BoxingScene.com if he was impressed by Stevenson following his move up from junior lightweight, he said: “I’m not, I’m not. Put him in the ring with me. I’ll crack him.”
Ortiz is 17-1-1 (8 KOs), while Stevenson remains undefeated, but the recent match-up with De Los Santos has left the 27-year-old confident he would come out on top.
He added: “I don’t think Shakur would be a hard fight for me. I’m a whoop his ass.”