De La Hoya wants Ortiz Jr. vs. Ennis fight in 2026

By Elliot Raines: Promoter Oscar De La Hoya he says “1000%” want the Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis fight in 2026 to take place. But before that can happen, Ortiz Jr. must. (23-0, 21 KOs) wins his fight against Erickson Lubin this Saturday, November 8, at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Verbal Deal With Eddie Hearn

Oscar states that he has a “verbal agreement” with Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) and his promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing. But again, Ortiz Jr. must win his fight against Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) for the talks to begin.

Vergil Jr., 27, will defend his WBC interim junior middleweight title against #4 Lubin, 30, on DAZN this saturday night.

“I welcome Eddie (Hearn). I welcome Ennis to see the very best 154 and this is Vergil Ortiz,” said Oscar De La Hoya Fight Hub TVreacting to the news of Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and promoter Eddie Hearn planning to headline Vergil Ortiz Jr. this Saturday. ‘s fight against Erickson Lubin.

De La Hoya’s comment that Vergil is “the very best 154” is hard to believe. Does Oscar really think that after seeing the hard time Ortiz Jr. is going through? in his last two fights against Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk? Even if he does, many fans don’t. They consider Ortiz Jr. than under Ennis, and possibly also under Bakhram Murtazaliev and Sebastian Fundora.

“I’m just afraid that if ‘Boots’ sees Vergil Jr. in person, he shied away from the fight. I want that fight 1000%. First things first. Vergil must win on Saturday. This is the bottom line. I’m not going to pull Vergil out of his tunnel vision and say, ‘Sign this contract. We’re going to fight ‘Boots’ Ennis.

Fans smell hesitation

What made De La Hoya’s comments sound nasty is how he repeatedly said today that Ennis and Hearn could change their minds about the fight against Vergil Jr. after seeing how good he is on Saturday night. They might be scared. It doesn’t seem realistic. Ennis and Hearn both seem to really want the Ortiz Jr. fight next. They wouldn’t travel to Fort Worth to sit ringside if they didn’t have it.

Fear of losing the investment

The way Oscar spoke, some fans on social media believe he cooks up excuses to the fight between Vergil Jr. and avoiding ‘Boots’ to ensure his fighter doesn’t get hit. It’s completely understandable if De La Hoya doesn’t want the fight. Why would he want Ortiz Jr. be exposed by Ennis, possibly knocked out and lose value? All those years of hard work and money De La Hoya put into Ortiz’s career would be down the drain.

“Let him win this fight on Saturday, and then we’ll start negotiating. Is there a verbal agreement? Yes. Eddie wants it, I want it, Vergil wants it, Boots wants it. We’ll start negotiating right after the win if he wins,” De La Hoya said.

Elliot Raines has been covering British and European boxing since 2010. Known for his sharp pen and low tolerance for hype, Raines analyzes the sport’s politics, promoters and paper champions with dry precision.