Eddie Hearn says a fight between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. isn’t entirely dead for February 22nd. However, it’s not looking good because Boots (33-0, 29 KOs) still wants to unify the welterweight division.
Hearn states that the Ennis-Ortiz fight “Probably won’t happen,” but he’s leaving it up to Boots to decide if he wants to take it. He says that when he spoke to Ennis, 28, asking him about his interest in facing Vergil Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs), he spoke about still wanting to unify the 147-lb division.
Based on Hearn’s conversation, he doubts the fight will happen between Jaron and Vergil Jr. Ennis holds the IBF welterweight title and wants to unify against the other three champions, who would be much easier fights for him than going up against Ortiz, 26, and risking taking a bad loss.
Boxing fans on social media believe Boots is scared because he’s coming off another poor performance against Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9th, and he would be facing one of the best fighters at 154 going up against Vergil Jr.
The chances of Ennis losing would be high, and he might even get knocked out. Getting KO’d by Vergil Jr. would devastate Ennis’ career, and fans would no longer perceive him in the same light. He’d go from being viewed as a superstar to just another hype job, which he’s already being perceived after his latest performance against Karen.
“I’m still talking, but when I got proposed the fight, it was at 147, which is obviously a no-brainer. Then we were told it was at 154, which is fine,” said Eddie Hearn to the Stomping Ground, recapping the fallout of the failed negotiations between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr.
“It’s just timing, really. We’ve got unification fights in the works, and Boots has got to decide to vacate the title and move up to fight [Ortiz Jr.] for no title [WBC interim 154].
“So, I’m not saying it’s completely dead, but time-wise, if they’re looking to announce it today, it probably won’t happen. But it’s up to Boots, it’s up to him, and he hasn’t made a decision on his weight class yet, but he’s still leaning towards trying to unify, so that’s probably the option.
“Maybe in the summer. For February 22nd, I’m not saying it’s completely dead, but it’s difficult trying to close the fight on Thanksgiving and saying to Boots, ‘You’ve got to vacate your [IBF welterweight] title today.’ He’s like, ‘What, can I not unify?’ ‘Well, you can, but we need an answer.’ So, that was the conversation last night. So, we’ll see what happens.
“No, no. If he doesn’t fight Ortiz, he won’t fight until April,” said Hearn when asked if Boots Ennis could still fight on the February 22nd card against someone else,” said Hearn.
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