Preliminary negotiations have begun between WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for a battle at 154 on February twenty second in a Riyadh Season occasion.
Dan Rafael stories that the talks have began between the Eddie Hearn-promoted Boots Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) and Vergil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs).
Vergil is likely one of the greatest at 154, and that is the proving floor for Boots to point out he belongs among the many elite. If he loses, he’ll must return to 147 and proceed preventing the identical nameless opposition he’s been preventing his total eight-year profession.
Negotiations Start
Subsequent to nobody is giving Ennis any probability of beating Vergil Jr, who’s an enormous puncher with technical abilities and the flexibility to adapt when issues aren’t going effectively. We noticed that in Vergil’s win over Serhii Bohachuk on August tenth.
Some discover this stunning as a result of Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya had questioned whether or not Hearn would undergo with the battle after Ennis’ lackluster efficiency in his rematch towards Karen Chukhadzhian on November ninth in Philadelphia.
“Per Golden Boy [president Eric Gomez], preliminary talks have begun with Matchroom Boxing for Vergil Ortiz – Jaron Ennis at 154 on Feb. 22 Riyadh Season card,” stated Dan Rafael on X.
Permitting Boots to battle Ortiz Jr. would present a variety of braveness on Hearn’s half as a result of this might finish badly for him. Nevertheless, if Ennis can’t beat Vergil Ortiz, he doesn’t have a lot of a future with Matchroom as a result of staying at 147 is a useless finish. Hearn can’t proceed to child Ennis’ profession if he can’t swim with the sharks.
Large Check For Ennis
That’s why it’s a superb concept for Hearn to make the battle between Ennis and Vergil now. If Ennis loses, it’s a waste for Hearn to maintain him on board the Matchroom ship.
Hearn must deal with simply the ultra-talented fighters for his secure and solely make exceptions for short-term contracts involving fighters with charisma however not nice expertise, like Shakur Stevenson and George Kambosos Jr. These sorts are good for short-term contracts. A man like Ennis, who doesn’t have charisma and may’t dangle with the highest guys at 154, it’s a waste for Hearn to maintain him if he loses to Vergil Jr.
High 154-pounders
Bakhram Murtazaliev
Sebastian Fundora
Serhii Bohachuk
Israil Madrimov
Erickson Lubin
Charles Conwell
Tim Tszyu
Overlook about Terence Crawford. He’s on one other stage than Boots, and it’s pointless to even contemplate a battle between the 2 after how Chukhadzhian uncovered Ennis once more.
Going into the rematch, Ennis had boasted about how he was “going to have my enjoyable” and dominate Chukhadzhian by being relaxed, which he hadn’t achieved of their first battle final yr on January 7, 2023.
This time, Ennis carried out even worse. Chukhadzhian had improved and fought like a extra highly effective model of Floyd Mayweather Jr, touchdown potshots at will and dominating Boots even on the within.
It was a catastrophe for Boots, and the one optimistic factor that would come out of the battle was the judges gave him a 12-round unanimous choice. Ennis received by the scores 119-107, 117-109 and 116-110. Boots knocked Karen down within the fifth. I had Ennis profitable 7-5.
Boots Ennis vs. Chukhadzhian Punch Stats
– Ennis: 224 of 730 punches for 30.7%
– Chukhadzhian: 173 of 522 for 33.1
