Eddie Hearn says negotiations are underway for a fight between WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in Saudi Arabia. The Matchroom promoter Hearn states that His Excellency Turki Alalshikh could be key to completing the Ortiz Jr. vs. Ennis mega-fight negotiations.
IBF welterweight champion Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) would have to move up from 147 to 154 to make the fight happen with the 26-year-old Vergil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs). Hearn says he would prefer that Ennis stay at 147 to fight the other champions in unification matches, but if the “right opportunity” presents itself, they’ll take it.
Making a move up to 154 would require courage on Boots Ennis’ part, as he’s grown accustomed to being a big fish in a small, empty pond at 147. Fighting Vergil Jr. at 154 in Saudi Arabia would put Ennis in a situation where he could get exposed if things go badly for him against the unbeaten WBC interim champion.
Ennis vs. Ortiz Jr. Negotiations “Going On”
The wise owl Hearn knows that it would be risky for Ennis, 27, to move up to junior middleweight to face a talent like Vergil Ortiz Jr. in his first fight in the weight class without getting acclimated beforehand.
Of course, Hearn has talked incessantly about his belief that Ennis is one of the best fighters on the planet, saying to Sports Illustrated, “Jaron Ennis is the best fighter in the world pound for pound, bar none.” If Ennis truly “The Best fighter” in this solar system, he must be willing to move up one division to challenge Vergil Jr. for his WBC interim belt.
“There’s negotiations going on behind the scenes for a potential Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz already in Saudi,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing News about talks having begun for a clash between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Vergil Jr’s Advantages over Ennis
- Power: The power is clearly on Vergil Jr’s side. He punches harder with both hands, and is devastating when going to the body.
- Experience: Boots has never fought at 154, and he’ll be facing a guy who has been fighting the division for the last three contests.
- Ring Smarts: We saw in Ortiz Jr’s fight against WBC interim champion Serhii Bohachuk that he could make adjustments to win. We hadn’t seen that with Ennis. In his toughest career fight against Karen Chukhadzhian, Boots never made any changes to his game and struggled against a fighter he should have blown out if he’d been able to switch to a plan B
- Toughness: Vergil Jr’s fight against Bohachuk showed that he’s tougher than Ennis, because the shots he took in that clash would have been devasting for Boots.
- Mobility: Ennis doesn’t move the way that Vergil Jr. does, and it seems more flat-footed.
- Youth: At 26, Vergil Jr is a year younger than the 27-year-old Boots Ennis, but he looks more youthful than the Philadelphia native, with the appearance of a person in his early 20s. These two might as well be a decade apart because Vergil looks a lot younger.
“I think Bozy might be referring to an earlier time when we looked to make the fight when the original mandatory was called, and we were deciding whether we were going to do it,” said Hearn. “Ortiz against Ennis is a massive fight, and it’s probably going to take His Excellency to come up with a number to get that in.”
Ortiz-Ennis would be an excellent headliner for one of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s cards in Saudi Arabia. It would require that Boots give up on his goal of becoming the undisputed welterweight champion because once he moves up to 154, it could be difficult to return to the 147-lb division.
Ennis Could Be Better At 154
“So, we are individually negotiating at the moment regarding that fight,” said Hearn. “It’s not done. Of course, our [Boots Ennis] preference is to stay and fight a champion at 147, but if the right opportunity comes for us to fight Ortiz, we’re all in for that fight as well.
“It’s a weight division beyond what he’s [Ennis] is operating at the moment,” said Hearn about Boots not having fought at 154 and would have to move up to face one of the best fighters in the weight class. “I actually think Boots is going to get better as he goes up the divisions.”
As you can tell from Hearn’s comments, he’s not overly enthusiastic about Ennis potentially moving up to 154 to face Vergil Jr. Hearn knows what could happen to Ennis, which would wreck his plans of turning him into a massive star at 147.
“Ortiz is a great fighter; it’s a firefight, and it’s a massive fight. It would be tremendous,” said Hearn about a fight between Ennis and Vergil Jr.
If Ennis wins, his popularity will soar overnight, and he’d gain much more from beating Vergil Jr. than becoming undisputed at 147 against the current champions.
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