Eddie Hearn says negotiations are underway for a fight between interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in Saudi Arabia. Matchroom promoter Hearn claims His Excellency Turki Alalshikh could be key to completing the Ortiz Jr. mega-fight negotiations. vs Ennis.
IBF welterweight champion Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) would have to move up from 147 to 154 to make the fight with Vergil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) aged 26. Hearn says he’d rather Ennis stay at 147 to fight other champions in unification matches, but if the “right opportunity” presents itself, they’ll take it.
Making a move up to 154 would require courage on the part of Boots Ennis, as he is used to being a big fish in a small, empty pond at 147. Fighting Vergil Jr. at 154 in Saudi Arabia puts Ennis in a situation where he could be exposed if things go wrong for him against the undefeated WBC interim champion.
Ennis vs. Ortiz Jr. “Continuing” Negotiations
The wise owl Hearn knows it would be risky for Ennis, 27, to move up to junior middleweight to face a talent like Vergil Ortiz Jr. in his first fight in the weight class without having acclimated first.
Of course, Hearn has been vocal about his belief that Ennis is one of the best fighters on the planet, telling Sports Illustrated, “Jaron Ennis is the best fighter in the world pound for pound, bar none.” If Ennis is truly “The best fighter” in this solar system, he must be willing to move up a division to challenge Vergil Jr. for his interim WBC belt.
“There are negotiations behind the scenes for a potential Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz already in Saudi,” Eddie Hearn told Boxing news on the talks that have begun for a bout between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Vergil Jr’s advantages over Ennis
- power: The power is clearly on Vergil Jr.’s side. He grabs harder with both hands, and is devastating when he goes to the body.
- Experience: Boots has never fought at 154, and he will face a guy who has fought the division for the last three contests.
- Ring Smarts: We saw in Ortiz Jr’s fight against interim WBC champion Serhii Bohachuk that he could make adjustments to win. We didn’t see that with Ennis. In her toughest fight of her career against Karen Chukhadzhian, Boots never made any changes to her game and fought a fighter she should have blown away if she had been able to switch to a plan B.
- Tenacity: Vergil Jr’s fight against Bohachuk showed that he is tougher than Ennis because the shots he took in that fight would have been devastating for Boots.
- Mobility: Ennis doesn’t move like Vergil Jr., and seems more willing.
- Youth: At 26, Vergil Jr is a year younger than the 27-year-old Boots Ennis, but he looks younger than the Philadelphia native, with the appearance of a person in his early 20s. These two might as well be a decade apart because Vergil looks much younger.
“I think Bozy could be referring to a time before when we were looking to do the fight when the original warrant was called, and we were deciding if we were going to do it,” Hearn said. “Ortiz against Ennis is a massive fight, and it will probably take His Excellency to have a number to get that.”
Ortiz-Ennis would make an excellent headliner for one of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s cards in Saudi Arabia. Boots needs to give up his goal of becoming the undisputed welterweight champion because once he moves to 154, it could be difficult to return to the 147 lb division.
Ennis could be better at 154
“So we’re negotiating individually at the moment regarding that fight,” Hearn said. “It’s not done. Of course, our (Boots Ennis) preference is to stay and fight a champion at 147, but if the right opportunity comes for us to fight Ortiz, we’re all in that fight too.
“It’s a weight division beyond what (Ennis) operates at the moment,” said Hearn, who Boots hasn’t fought at 154 and should move up to face one of the best fighters in the weight class. “I really think Boots is going to get better as he goes up the divisions.”
As you can tell from Hearn’s comments, he’s not overly excited about Ennis potentially moving up to 154 to face Vergil Jr. Hearn knows what could happen to Ennis, who would have his plans to turn him into a massive star at 147.
“Ortiz is a great fighter; he’s a fire fight, and he’s a massive fight. It would be tremendous,” Hearn said of a fight between Ennis and Vergil Jr.
If Ennis wins, his popularity will increase overnight, and he will earn a lot more by beating Vergil Jr. than to become undisputed at 147 against the current champions.
