There was a time that Vergil Ortiz Jr. was going to be next.

Those days feel like they weren’t too long ago. Those days also feel like they were forever ago. Boxing is a dynamic sport, always changing. It moves with or without you. It moves because of or in spite of you.

Ortiz was full of potential. So was his future. He was highly lauded, named the prospect of the year for 2019 by BoxingScene.com, The Ring Magazine and ESPN, and recognized for his four knockout victories, including wins over Mauricio Herrera, Antonio Orozco and Brad Solomon.

“None had ever been knocked out, until Ortiz blitzed all three of them inside six rounds,” wrote boxing reporter Dan Rafael on ESPN.com. 

“Vergil Ortiz Jr. is an aggressive, heavy-handed puncher who is physically strong, possesses underrated boxing skills and has a fan-friendly style,” wrote Anson Wainwright in The Ring’s year-end awards issue. 

“The biggest question in 2020,” wrote Jake Donovan on BoxingScene, “being just how high the rising welterweight can fly.”

The pandemic iced boxing for a chunk of 2020. Ortiz fought once, scoring another knockout. It was in 2021, however, that Ortiz was truly able to graduate from a prospect into a contender, notching two more KOs. Maurice Hooker, a former junior welterweight titleholder, was gone in seven. Egidijus Kavaliauskas, a fringe contender, was done within eight.

Everyone wanted to see how Ortiz would fit into the storied 147-pound weight class. There were two names at the top: Errol Spence and Terence Crawford. And there were two names on the verge: Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Vergil Ortiz.

So much has changed. So much remains the same.

Ennis has been in a holding pattern but is still seen as someone who could become the face of the welterweight division. Ortiz no longer has the momentum he carried into 2021, no closer to stardom now than he was then. 

That isn’t Ortiz’s fault. He was sidelined by health issues, including a diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis, in which muscle tissue breaks down, enters the bloodstream and threatens the kidneys. Ortiz was off for nearly 12 months between his August 2021 win over Kavaliauskas and a rescheduled August 2022 fight with Michael McKinson. He then spent another 17 months on the shelf between the McKinson victory and this past January’s return against Fredrick Lawson.

One fight that would have moved Ortiz’s career forward – with fellow contender Eimantas Stanionis – never took place. The Stanionis match was postponed twice – first when Stanionis had to have his appendix removed, then when Ortiz’s rhabdomyolysis returned – before being called off altogether when Ortiz fainted from dehydration just three days ahead of the scheduled bout.

It was reasonable to wonder whether Ortiz’s health concerns would resurface, if he would be able to return to the ring at all. Ortiz was wondering the same thing.

“When everything went down, right before I went to the hospital, at that point I thought my career was over,” Ortiz told boxing writer Keith Idec earlier this year. “I was just like, ‘Man, again? Fuck! What’s going on? What’s wrong with me? I’m over here doing the best that I can, putting in 110 percent, but am I not able to do it anymore?’ That question did cross my mind a few times. And I broke down crying, just not knowing what was next.”

Doctors now believe that Ortiz’s rhabdomyolysis was likely a long-term consequence of a couple of run-ins with Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021. Ortiz moved up to the 154-pound division, giving his body some mercy, though that also took him away from the recognizable names at welterweight, and the paydays and attention that would come with them. The Lawson fight was Ortiz’s first at junior middleweight. 

He remains undefeated at 20-0 (20 KOs) but is otherwise unproven in this new division. This Saturday’s fight against Thomas Dulorme won’t change either of those things.

And yet, at last, Ortiz once again has the future ahead of him. There are opportunities to seize. It’s no longer just about what could potentially come. It’s about what is tangibly there.

What’s tangibly there, or rather nearly there, is an August 3 fight with Tim Tszyu on the star-studded undercard of Crawford’s upcoming fight against 154-pound titleholder Israil Madrimov. It is another packed show being funded by Saudi Arabia, though the first to take place in the United States. Unlike other promoters and investors, who want to make a profit, these Saudi shows are throwing massive amounts of money at boxing for other reasons. 

Tszyu is a former junior middleweight titleholder who lost his belt last month to Sebastian Fundora. Tszyu’s head was cut gruesomely wide open following an accidental elbow at the tail end of the second round. The bleeding – unceasing, blinding and draining – made dealing with Fundora, a late replacement opponent with a considerable height advantage, all the more difficult.

Ortiz had called on Tszyu before the Fundora defeat. The circumstances of Tszyu’s defeat mean that the fight remains interesting, even if there’s no longer a world title on the line.

A win for Tszyu keeps him in the conversation at 154, keeps him in contention for a potential rematch with Fundora, or the winner of Crawford-Madrimov, or the potential arrival of Spence in the division, or the expected return of Jermell Charlo.

A win for Ortiz puts him similarly in the mix, jumping him much further ahead than he would otherwise be after his first two fights at junior middleweight: against Lawson in January and Dulorme this Saturday.

Ortiz’s win over Lawson lasted less than a round, ending with what some argue was a premature stoppage by referee Tony Weeks. The fight wouldn’t have meant too much no matter how long it lasted. It wasn’t meant to have too much meaning; Lawson was an acceptable entry-level opponent for Ortiz in a new weight class and after an extended layoff.

Dulorme – whom Ortiz faces in a DAZN doubleheader also featuring Jose Ramirez vs. Rances Barthelemy – was a letdown of an opponent when initially named. It shouldn’t be a competitive fight. Dulorme is past his prime, is 2-4-1 in his past seven fights, suffered three consecutive losses in 2020 and 2021, and has no track record at junior middleweight. Ortiz-Dulorme is expected to be a mismatch, a tune-up, a chance to stay active and shake off any remaining rust. But Ortiz does need to follow through with a win to make the Tszyu bout official.

Ortiz needs it. After all, the fight with Tszyu puts would mark his first world-class opponent. And a victory there would mean more to come. 

This has been a long time coming for Ortiz. He was a top prospect five years ago. He became a contender three years ago. 

His next opportunity – his opportunity to be next – is just three months away.

Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.