Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s Manager Shuts Door On Future Jaron Ennis Fight

Vergil Ortiz Jr’s manager, Rick Mirigian, says there will not be any second chances for Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to ever get an opportunity to fight his Virg after he chose not to face him on the February 22nd card.

No Second Chances

Mirigian told Boxingscene, “Boots won’t get another chance,” he believes he’s cool with that. Obviously, if Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) wanted to fight Vergil, this would be the time because the money would be enormous and the visibility high.

Everyone deserves second chances in life, but there’s a lack of trust in this case. Team Ortiz Jr. doesn’t want to waste time on Boots and end up with nothing to show if he loses his nerve.

Many fans worldwide will watch the Riyadh Season card on February 22nd because it’s one of the best in years. Vergil Jr. is now could face one of these two fighters on that card:

– Erislandy Lara
– Xander Zayas

If Ennis were to move up to 154 and position himself for a world title shot for a belt that Virgil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) holds, he would likely take this fight. Ortiz Jr. isn’t going to vacate a belt out of bitterness just because Ennis wouldn’t fight him this time. That would be childish and self-defeating.

Words Mean Nothing

‘Boots’ Ennis’ promoter Eddie Hearn says he wants to stay at 147 to unify the division before he considers moving up to 154 to go after the big names. Hearn insists that when Ennis does move up in weight, Vergil Jr. would be the first guy he would face. Those are just words and mean nothing now after Mirigian’s statement about Ennis not getting another chance.

The way the 27-year-old Ennis looked in his rematch against Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9th, his career could fall apart well before he moves up to 154. He looked absolutely horrible against Chukhadzhian, getting hit with potshots all night and being made to look bad in front of his hometown crowd at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

In hindsight, Hearn should have known better than to have Boots face Chukhadzhian again after the problems he had in their first fight on January 7, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Ennis looked lost in that fight, being schooled from A to B by Chukhadzhian. In the aftermath, Boots blamed his performance on focusing too much on trying to get a knockout.

Jaron said going into the rematch, “I’m going to have my fun,” and let the knockout come naturally. Man, he looked like he was not having any fun in the rematch last money, getting worked over by Chukhadzhian, and the Philly crowd deathly silent.