Vergil Ortiz Jr’s Manager Rick Mirigian has thrown cold water on reports that they are targeting a fight against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for February 22nd in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mirigian says he wants to Errol Spence or Keith Thurman for Vergil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) for Cowboys Stadium in Texas. However, he does not rule out a fight between Vergil Jr. and Boots or Terence Crawford out if “someone can afford that fight”.
Spence and Thurman are both considered washed-up fighters at this point. Thurman hasn’t fought in nearly three years, and he would be a poor choice for Vergil Jr. to defend his WBC interim 154-lb belt.
Ennis not an option for Vergil Jr
Fans should have known better than to believe that Ortiz Jr. would risk his career to fight Jaron Ennis and probably lose to him. This would be a big step up in class for Vergil, who seemed to still be in pain through the number system in his last fight at 154.
It would be His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. It is unknown whether he would want to finance a fight between WBC interim junior middleweight champion Ortiz and Boots or Crawford. There is no chance that Crawford will agree to fight Vergil Jr. fight because he’s not well-known among casual boxing fans, and it won’t bring in many PPV buys. Only hardcore boxing fans know who Vergil Jr. is, and many of them see him as flawed, especially after his last fight.
It’s pretty obvious why Mirigian chose 35-year-old ‘One Time’ Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) for Vergil Ortiz Jr. would want to fight. It would be a decisive win for Vergil, who looked terrible in his last fight against Serhii Bohachuk.
Thurman has only fought once in the past five years, and that was against Mario Barrios. Former welterweight champion Thurman ruined his career by being inactive after making good money from his fights against Manny Pacquiao and Danny Garcia.
Given Vergil Jr’s highly questionable 12-round majority decision win over Serhii Bohachuk on August 10, it is not the ideal time for Turki to make a fight between him and Ennis or Crawford. If Vergil wants to fight Spence if he prevails against WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora, that’s one thing.
We’re not looking at Boots, Ortiz and anyone in the Top 5 is working for a BIG fight and when an offer comes, then we’ll go from there. I think Ortiz/Spence at Cowboy Stadium is going to be the biggest fight in Texas history, but if anyone can afford Ortiz/Boots or Ortiz/Crawford, then my… https://t.co/WzDIXfkwwn
— Rick Mirigian (@RGMPPROMO) October 25, 2024
We would love it, Vergil has been asking for that fight for years and Thurman wouldn’t do it, but if Thurman wanted that fight it would be made quick TOMORROW…… https://t.co/zsTHDp3ZC5
— Rick Mirigian (@RGMPPROMO) October 25, 2024
