Tim Bradley says he suspects that trainer Robert Garcia was warned by Canelo Alvarez’s trainer, Eddy Reynoso, not to allow Vergil Ortiz Jr. with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis not fighting.
Boots Ennis Spars with Canelo
Call it a case of “Mexican hood,” Bradley believes Reynoso called Robert Garcia to warn him not to let Mexican-American Vergil Jr. Ennis doesn’t face, after watching how well he did in training camp, helping Canelo Alvarez in sparring for his September 13 fight against Terence Crawford.
Bradley theorizes that Robert received a warning to keep the talented ‘Boots’ Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) away from WBC interim junior middleweight champion Ortiz Jr. (24-0, 22 KOs).
“‘Boot,’ what you see now, is Mexican hood. You don’t think (Canelo’s trainer Eddy) Reynoso got that call to Robert Garcia. ‘Boots-Vergil Ortiz, don’t do it.’ It is what it was,” Tim Bradley said of his channel about his belief that Canelo Alvarez’s trainer, Eddy Reynoso, called trainer Roberto Garcia and warned him not to let Vergil Ortiz Jr. with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis not fighting after seeing the success he had with Canelo.
“Mexican Hood” Warning Call
“He (trainer Robert Garcia) got the call. And the call was, ‘You don’t need him. (He’s) Out of bounds. That boy (Ennis) is bad. He’s doing something with Canelo. They’re going back and forth. But damn, Canelo’s a 168-pounder. ‘Boots’ is a 154-pounder you need, and he-po’-under. him.’ It’s called Mexican hood. They got it.
As Ennis looked in his debut at 154, knocking out contender Uisma Lima in the first round on October 11, 2025, Robert Garcia would not need to be warned by Reynoso. He saw for himself how dangerous Ennis was.
De La Hoya’s Duck Talk
Ortiz Jr’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya spoke what many fans believe was duck language following Vergil Jr’s second round TKO victory over Erickson Lubin on November 8, 2025 at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
De La Hoya said Vergil Jr. have the “over hand” in any negotiations, and they will want a deal that is “favorable to us”. As De La Hoya spoke, he didn’t sound like he wanted to pick a fight with Ennis. Robert mentioned after the fight that Ortiz Jr. had other options, such as Jermell Charlo, Errol Spence and Xander Zayas.
“So, you call yourself going out there to help Canelo. Guess what? You (‘Boots’ Ennis) gave them information about yourself. Now, it’s backfired. Now you look stupid, now you look desperate (by trying to get a fight against Vergil Jr.),” Bradley said.
Bradley’s theory is gaining traction
That scenario Tim mentions sounds plausible, but it’s probably not why the fight won’t happen. Again, De La Hoya has already sounded like he is not interested in the Vergil Jr. vs. Ennis fight last Saturday night after his knockout of Lubin. This is a bad style matchup for Ortiz Jr.
Last updated on 11/12/2025
