Vergil Ortiz Jr says Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis “didn’t look good” in his rematch with Karen Chukhadzhian last Saturday night in Philadelphia.
WBC interim junior middleweight champion Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs), who could be Boots’ next opponent, points out that he got hit a lot by Chukhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs) and looked “frustrated.”
Fans saw the same thing, watching IBF welterweight champion Boots (33-0, 29 KOs) and his father/trainer, Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis, panic, not knowing what to do. Bozy was useless in the corner, giving Boots repeated commands, ‘Get him out of there,’ but with no sound instructions. He looked like the captain of a ship that was floundering in rough seas, and he wasn’t prepared for the task.
Ennis still won by a 12-round unanimous decision by the scores 119-107, 117-109 and 116-110. However, Chukhadzhian landed the better shots throughout the fight, and showed himself to be the far more superior-skilled fighter of the two.
Vergil: Boots Didn’t Look Great
“Just being truthful, he didn’t look that great. I’m not sure what it is about that guy because he had two performances with that guy that weren’t great,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr. to Boxing King Media, talking about Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ performance in his rematch against Karen Chukhadzhian in their rematch last Saturday night on November 9th in Philadelphia.
Ortiz Jr. is being kind by merely saying that Boots “didn’t look great,” because he looked awful, and was lucky that Chukhadzhian didn’t press him more like he did from rounds 10 on. If Chukhadzhian had attacked Ennis like that from the start, he’d have won, and his career would be on the rocks.
Vergil says he’s fighting in February, and he’s not sure if it’s going to be Boots or someone else. If it’s Boots, we could see him suffer his first career loss because he does not look fit to take on a killer like Vergil at 154. Promoter Eddie Hearn might want to keep Boots protected at 147 rather than letting him go up to junior middleweight and have Ortiz Jr. beat him.
What would make that loss more bitter for Hearn to take is all the gloating Vergil Jr’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, would do afterward. He would be devoting time to his Clap Back Thursday posts for months, reveling in Vergil’s victory, showing clips, and prolonging the agony for Boots and Hearn,
Ortiz vs. Ennis Negotiations
“He didn’t KO him, which I’m not saying he has to KO him, but in all honestly, he just got hit a lot, didn’t look great, and he seemed kind of frustrated. I haven’t been in the ring with that guy, and I can’t say for myself what it was,” said Vergil Jr. about the problems Ennis was having with Chukhadzhian.
“I’m reading that negotiations are being made at this moment. It could be in February. If it’s him or not, I’m fighting in February. I don’t know who it’s going to be against. Regardless of who it is, it’s going to be here [Riyadh, Saudi Arabia]. It could be him. I can’t really tell you.”
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