Eddie Hearn wants Vergil Ortiz next for ‘Boots’ Ennis, targets February 22 date

Eddie Hearn says he’s in support of Jaron “Boots” Ennis’ decision to move up to junior middleweight if he fails to secure a unification bout at 147.

Philadelphia’s Ennis, 26, successfully defended his IBF welterweight title, recording a decision win over 28-year-old Ukrainian Karen Chukhadzhian at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Despite cruising to a unanimous decision win over Chukhadzhian, 24-3 (13 KOs), Ennis’ defensive vulnerability was exploited by the Ukrainian who landed good shots throughout.

Ennis’ promoter Hearn, revealed that his fighter’s plan was to fight Chukhadzhian and then unify the division.

“We’re ready to go for February 22,” Hearn told DAZN after the fight. “The plan was to fight Karen and unify but like I said, it’s getting tight there at 147, and we gotta probably move to 154.”

Ennis, now 33-0 (29 KOs), would have a lot of options at 154 with the likes of WBA champion Terence Crawford, Sebastian Fundora (WBC and WBO champion), Bakhram Murtazaliev (IBF titlist), and Vergil Ortiz among others all available for a fight.

However, Hearn prefers a showdown between Ennis and Ortiz at 154. Ortiz, 22-0 (21 KOs), is yet to announce his next opponent since snatching the WBC interim title from Serhii Bohuchuk via a majority decision win in August, while Bohachuk faces Israil Madrimov on December 21.

“I think that it’s really a case of just making a fight. I’m sure I’ll get a phone call in the next 10, 15 minutes to confirm the fight. If we do Boots against Virgil Ortiz, it’s one of the best fights in the sport,” said Hearn.

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].