Preliminary negotiations have begun between WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for a fight at 154 on February 22nd in a Riyadh Season event.
Dan Rafael reports that the talks have started between the Eddie Hearn-promoted Boots Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) and Vergil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs).
Vergil is one of the best at 154, and this is the proving ground for Boots to show he belongs among the elite. If he loses, he’ll need to return to 147 and continue fighting the same anonymous opposition he’s been fighting his entire eight-year career.
Negotiations Begin
Next to no one is giving Ennis any chance of beating Vergil Jr, who is a massive puncher with technical skills and the ability to adapt when things aren’t going well. We saw that in Vergil’s win over Serhii Bohachuk on August 10th.
Some find this surprising because Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya had questioned whether Hearn would go through with the fight after Ennis’ lackluster performance in his rematch against Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9th in Philadelphia.
“Per Golden Boy [president Eric Gomez], preliminary talks have begun with Matchroom Boxing for Vergil Ortiz – Jaron Ennis at 154 on Feb. 22 Riyadh Season card,” said Dan Rafael on X.
Allowing Boots to fight Ortiz Jr. would show a lot of courage on Hearn’s part because this could end badly for him. However, if Ennis can’t beat Vergil Ortiz, he doesn’t have much of a future with Matchroom because staying at 147 is a dead end. Hearn can’t continue to baby Ennis’ career if he can’t swim with the sharks.
Big Test For Ennis
That’s why it’s an excellent idea for Hearn to make the fight between Ennis and Vergil now. If Ennis loses, it’s a waste for Hearn to keep him on board the Matchroom ship.
Hearn needs to focus on just the ultra-talented fighters for his stable and only make exceptions for short-term contracts involving fighters with charisma but not great talent, like Shakur Stevenson and George Kambosos Jr. Those types are good for short-term contracts. A guy like Ennis, who doesn’t have charisma and can’t hang with the top guys at 154, it’s a waste for Hearn to keep him if he loses to Vergil Jr.
Top 154-pounders
Bakhram Murtazaliev
Sebastian Fundora
Serhii Bohachuk
Israil Madrimov
Erickson Lubin
Charles Conwell
Tim Tszyu
Forget about Terence Crawford. He’s on another level than Boots, and it’s pointless to even consider a fight between the two after how Chukhadzhian exposed Ennis again.
Going into the rematch, Ennis had boasted about how he was “going to have my fun” and dominate Chukhadzhian by being relaxed, which he hadn’t done in their first fight last year on January 7, 2023.
This time, Ennis performed even worse. Chukhadzhian had improved and fought like a more powerful version of Floyd Mayweather Jr, landing potshots at will and dominating Boots even on the inside.
It was a disaster for Boots, and the only positive thing that could come out of the fight was the judges gave him a 12-round unanimous decision. Ennis won by the scores 119-107, 117-109 and 116-110. Boots knocked Karen down in the fifth. I had Ennis winning 7-5.
Boots Ennis vs. Chukhadzhian Punch Stats
– Ennis: 224 of 730 punches for 30.7%
– Chukhadzhian: 173 of 522 for 33.1
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