Oscar De La Hoya: 60-40 for Vergil Ortiz over Jaron Ennis, 5 per cent for winner
Jan 10, 2026 • 7:33 AM ET
Golden Boy / Cris EsquedaOscar De La Hoya has taken to social media to confirm the terms he would be satisfied with for his 154lbs star, Vergil Ortiz, to take on Jaron “Boots” Ennis.
De La Hoya said on Instagram that he’d been finalizing the WBC welterweight title fight between Mario Barrios and Ryan Garcia, working with PBC and Al Haymon, and that an announcement would be made on Monday.
“We have a lot of top matches to be made, as the US’ top promoters,” said the Golden Boy boss.
But most of his messaging concerned the possible fight between Ortiz and Ennis.
“In the meantime, Eddie Hearn is begging the media for this ‘Boots’-Vergil Ortiz fight. It’s so stupid as a promoter to pigeonhole your fighter into one opponent. You lose your negotiating power, which ends up being a lot of lost money for your fighter…
“Look, Vergil can fight two or three different guys in megafights. He’s got options. Imagine him with Errol Spence at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Or Sebastian Fundora in a megafight in Vegas. Boots is part of the plan, but it doesn’t have to be next. Eddie, since you’re so desperate to make this fight, let’s do this: 60-40 for Vergil and five per cent to the winner, because I’m not moving off those numbers. You’re the ones begging for the fight.”
De La Hoya, by the way, added that there was a manager he was working with who was going behind his back to do deals, and that he would start sending legal letters, and that he was looking to keep big fights in the USA.
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
