Eddie Hearn says he doubts Vergil Ortiz Jr’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya and manager Rick Mirigian want the fight with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. He believes that the $10 million claim by Team Ortiz Jr. and the A-side talk suggests that they don’t want the fight with Ennis.
Golden Boy’s leverage game
De La Hoya made it known right away last Saturday that if ‘Boots’ Ennis and Matchroom promoter Hearn wanted the opportunity to fight Ortiz Jr. (24-0, 22 KOs), making them the B-side of the promotion. He says that Ortiz Jr. has the “upper hand” because he is the “better fighter”.
WBC Interim Junior Middleweight Champion Vergil Jr. destroyed #4 WBC contender Erickson Lubin (27-3, 19 KOs) and scored a second round TKO victory last Saturday, November 8th at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Ortiz Jr. never gave Erickson a fighting chance before obliterating him with a barrage of heavy fire.
“There’s nothing but respect from us, but we just know we’re winning,” Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn said. Fight Hub TV on his belief that Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is too good for Vergil Ortiz Jr. “Once you start hearing things like, ‘We’re the A-side.'”
“We tried” – The easy excuse
The A-side talk from De La Hoya could be interpreted as code for, ‘We don’t want the fight.’ So, if they offer Ennis a bad deal he’ll never take, they can always throw their hands up and say, ‘We tried.’ Enough fans will believe their explanation of why the fight wasn’t made for them to avoid a backlash and being seen as ducking.
“Ortiz has never been a world champion. A great fighter. ‘Boots’ was a world champion. He was a unified champion, but neither of them are champions now. They’re just the top two fighters in the division,” Hearn said.
“So, if you truly believe you’re the best, make the fight. And it will be really interesting to see now if they (Team Ortiz Jr.) because the fights there, the fights done, the money is there, the PPV is there,” Hearn said. “It’s a massive fight, but you can find an excuse if you don’t want to do it. So, we’ll see. If the fight delivers, the fighters are going to make a ton of money. They’re going to make a lot of money anyway.”
If Ennis doesn’t get the fight, he should set his sights on challenging the winner of the January 31, 2026 unification fight between WBA 154-lb champion Abass Baraou and WBO champion Xander Zayas. Ennis holds the WBA interim title. So he should be able to force a title shot against the winner of that fight.
Ennis just wants the fight
“When are you going to hear me coming out about this fight or ‘Boots’ coming out and saying, ‘We want it, we’re the A side.’ No, just want the fight. We just have to prove that we’re better than everybody else,” Hearn said.
It sounds like Hearn is frustrated with the resistance he’s facing from Ortiz. He and Ennis may have to agree to any demands Vergil Jr. makes. and his team asks if they want to get this fight. They don’t seem that interested in making the fight happen.
Last updated on 11/10/2025
