The victories pile up, the hype continues, the anticipation builds … and?
Jaron “Boots” Ennis’ first-round technical knockout victory Saturday in his debut at junior middleweight came one day after injured WBC titleholder Sebastian Fundora postponed his defense against Keith Thurman, which had been scheduled for October 25. The talent-rich division is in a wayward drifting stage, where the best fights are remaining agonizingly elusive.
When Philadelphia’s former unified welterweight champion Ennis, now 35-0 (31 KOs), overwhelmed Uisma Lima in less than two minutes, he quickly invoked the name of fellow unbeaten contender Vergil Ortiz Jnr as a next opponent while Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, proclaimed he’d bet his house with Ortiz promoter Oscar De La Hoya that Ennis would win the fight.
The problem is, when will it happen?
Ortiz is occupied with a tough November 8 assignment versus former title challenger Erickson Lubin, and although both Ennis and Ortiz are showcased by DAZN, there’s skepticism the superfight will materialize in the near future.
“Enough with these opponents already. I’m really done with these opponents,” ProBoxTV analyst and former welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi said of Ennis on Monday’s episode of “BoxingScene Today.”
“[Ennis] is a phenomenal fighter who should be fighting phenomenal opponents,” Malignaggi said. “I want to watch the best fighting the best.”
Ennis and Hearn were capable of cutting to the chase and pursuing Ortiz sooner, but they instead went soft.
“As soon as this fight with [Lima] was announced, I felt I wanted more,” former junior welterweight titleholder Chris Algieri said on “BoxingScene Today.” “Very little risk, very little reward. ‘Boots’ did exactly what he was supposed to – got him out of there, blew him out.”
In a video interview last week with BoxingScene, Ortiz said, “That [Ennis] fight needs an answer. It’s a yes for me. I want to be respected when I’m retired.”
Algieri said that while neither Ortiz nor Ennis wears a world-title belt at 154 – the titleholders are Fundora, Puerto Rico’s Xander Zayas, Russia’s Bakhram Murtazaliev and Germany’s Abass Baraou – many perceive Ortiz and Ennis as the top two fighters in the division.
“Ennis came out and said he wants Vergil next, and Ortiz is talking the way champions should speak,” Algieri said. “But I think there are way too many roadblocks. I think they’ll kick it down the road. I don’t see it happening for a while.”
Risking a first loss and preferring a title fight first may be in one or both fighters’ teams’ minds, but it deprives fight fans of a compelling bout that seems there for the taking.
With Fundora needing time to heal, Zayas likely uninterested in taking on either guy after just winning his belt at 22 years old (he is now 23), and Murtazaliev bound for an October 21 purse bid with contender Josh Kelly of the U.K., the options to claim a belt are minimal.
“I don’t mind these guys getting a title. I’d like the fight to build and I’d like there to be a belt on the line, but if you’re going to fight the Limas and the [Fredrick] Lawsons instead, you’re just taking roadkill and keep smashing it,” Malignaggi said. “This [division] should give you no gimmes.”
Algieri said the difficulty of the Lubin fight may leave Ortiz sidelined for too long as Ennis required little exertion to dismiss Lima, further complicating the effort to have them meet next.
“I don’t think Ortiz will walk through Lubin the way Ennis walked through Lima,” Algieri said.
Looking at it that way, perhaps the division will fulfill its expectations, with Fundora-Thurman to follow early next year, and an array of potential bouts that need to move beyond the talking/planning stage, turning the junior middleweights into the best kind of reality television.
