Golden Boy promoter Bernard Hopkins guarantees that Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will fight in 2025. He feels that “greed” and “politics” won’t prevent that matchup from occurring next year. Fans are convinced that Ennis ducked Vergil Jr. because he lost his conference after his poor showing in his rematch against Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9th.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Is Ennis Avoiding Ortiz Jr.?
If this isn’t fear on Boots’ part for not agreeing to fight Ortiz, he needs to move up to 154 because nothing is going to happen for him by staying at 147. He says he’s staying at welterweight because he wants Eddie Hearn to set up the fights against the champions.
It’s not happening, and he doesn’t seem to see things for what they are. Hearn has failed and will continue to fail at setting up the fights Ennis needs against the other champions. Unless Turki Alalshikh helps out, Hearn won’t produce the money needed to set up the unification fights Boots is asking for.
Winning those belts will not make Ennis more popular because fans don’t know who the champions are at 147. The three champions that Boots needs to fight to become undisputed are complete unknowns, and he can gain nothing by beating them.
That’s why he would be better off moving up to 154 and taking on Vergil Jr. for his WBC interim title. Of course, that’s if the reason he’s not fighting him is fear, which could be the real reason.
Losing to Ortiz Jr. would wreck Ennis’ career, sabotaging the revenue stream that has been flowing in without him ever being tested against A-level or elite-level fighters. He may be just a hype job, which is why he looked so poor in his two fights against Karen Chukhadzhian and in his matches against David Avanesyan and Roiman Villa.
Money and politics had nothing to do with the fight not happening on February 22nd. Boots (33-0, 29 KOs) and WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) are not fighting. Ennis, 27, decided he didn’t want to move up to 154 because he wanted to stay at 147 to continue his tireless quest to unify the welterweight division.
Ennis just doesn’t seem to understand. He won’t be able to get the fights he needs at 147 because the champions don’t want to lose their belts without being paid an enormous amount of money. Hopkins’ optimistic outlook for a fight between Ennis and Ortiz Jr. next year is naive, and he doesn’t see the real problem—money or lack of it.
“Whether it was Boots’ team or Golden Boy, that fight will be demanded by the fans, and the money and the opportunity will present themselves. They won’t be able to say no,” said Bernanrd Hopkins to Fighthpe about a fight between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. “The fight will happen [in 2025].
“The timing wasn’t correct for each side. They still must cross paths with each other before they go to the next level,” said Hopkins about Ortiz and Ennis. “I guarantee you fights that are supposed to happen, will happen.”
Hearn’s Role And Challenges
Some fans believe Boots is obsessed with unifying the 147-lb division. He does not grasp that his promoter, Eddie Hearn, cannot set up fights against the other champions. If Ennis’ name was Anthony Joshua, Hearn would have better luck getting the fight, because he would produce the money to get the fights that AJ is demanding.
Boots is not Joshua in terms of popularity, and the unification fights he’s asking for are unlikely to happen in 2025, 2026, or 2027. He’ll age and have nothing to show regarding the precious belts he’s pursuing.
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