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. Matchroom promoter Hearn says that His Excellency Turki Alalshikh could be the key to completing the Ortiz Jr. vs. Ennis mega-fight negotiations.
IBF welterweight champion Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) will have to move up from 147 to 154 to make the fight happen with 26-year-old Vergil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs). Hearn says he would prefer Ennis to stay at 147 to fight the other champions in unification matches, but if the “right opportunity” presents itself, they will take it.
Making a move to 154 will require courage on Boots Ennis’ part as he has grown accustomed to being a big fish in a small, empty pond at 147. To Vergil Jr. fighting at 154 in Saudi Arabia would put Ennis in a situation where he could be exposed if things go badly for him against the undefeated WBC interim champion.
Ennis vs. Ortiz Jr. Negotiations “Go On”
The wise owl Hearn knows that it will be risky for Ennis, 27, to move up to junior middleweight to face a talent like Vergil Ortiz Jr. face in his first fight in the weight class without acclimatization beforehand.
Of course, Hearn has been vocal about his belief that Ennis is one of the best fighters on the planet, saying Sports Illustrated, “Jaron Ennis is the best fighter in the world pound for pound, bar none.” If Ennis is truly “The Best Fighter” in this solar system, he should be willing to move up one division to beat Vergil Jr. to challenge for his WBC interim belt.
“There are behind-the-scenes negotiations going on for a potential Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz that is already in Saudi,” Eddie Hearn told Boxing News on talks that have begun for a clash between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Vergil Jr’s advantages over Ennis
- Force: The power is clearly on Vergil Jr’s side. He hits harder with both hands, and is devastating when he goes to the body.
- Experience: Boots has never fought at 154, and he will 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 interim WBC champion Serhii Bohachuk that he can make adjustments to win. We didn’t see 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 needed to blow out if he could switch to a plan B
- toughness: Vergil Jr’s fight against Bohachuk showed that he is tougher than Ennis as the shots he took in that clash would have been devastating to Boots.
- Mobility: Ennis doesn’t move like Vergil Jr. not, and it looks more flat-footed.
- Youth: At 26, Vergil Jr is a year younger than 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 much younger.
“I think Bozy might be referring to an earlier time when we were looking to make the fight when the original mandatory was called, and we were deciding if we were going to do it,” Hearn said. “Ortiz vs. Ennis is a massive fight, and it’s probably going to take His Excellency to come up with a number to get it in.”
Ortiz-Ennis would be an excellent headliner for one of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s cards in Saudi Arabia. That would require Boots to give up 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’re negotiating that fight individually right now,” Hearn said. “It’s not done. Obviously, 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 further than he (Ennis) is currently operating,” Hearn said of Boots, who hasn’t fought at 154 and will 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 isn’t too enthusiastic about Ennis possibly moving up to 154 to take on Vergil Jr. to confront. Hearn knows what could happen to Ennis, which would destroy his plans to turn 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 awesome,” Hearn said of a fight between Ennis and Vergil Jr.
If Ennis wins, his popularity will skyrocket overnight, and he will draw much more from Vergil Jr. to beat than to go unchallenged on 147 against the current champions.
