LOS ANGELES – Formal talks to stage an appetizing junior-middleweight bout pitting the unbeaten, in-their-prime contenders Vergil Ortiz Jnr of Texas and Philadelphia’s Jaron “Boots” Ennis kicked off on Tuesday as the sides committed to renew acquaintances in short order.
According to two officials with familiarity of the session, it lasted six hours, with each side presenting their “positions and needs” while “talking through some steps to accelerate this… over the next 10 days”.
Finalizing a bout between the WBC interim 154lbs champion Ortiz, 24-0 (22 KOs), and recent unified welterweight champion Ennis, 35-0 (31KOs), for a proposed date in March would be a tremendous Christmas present to fight fans.
The 27-year-old Ortiz is coming off a second-round knockout of veteran former title challenger Erickson Lubin in Texas – a bout Ennis, 28, watched from ringside after posting a first-round knockout of Uisma Lima a month earlier in Philadelphia. Ennis attended Ortiz’s victory, pointing to his watch that, “it’s time” to make the fight.
Ortiz’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya maintained in comments immediately after Ortiz’s victory that his fighter deserves the larger cut, and one official on Tuesday reported the talks repeated that notion, since Ortiz has fought stiffer competition in succession – Lubin, former WBA 154lbs champion Israil Madrimov, and former WBC interim champion Serhii Bohachuk.
Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez, who represents Ortiz, said at the recent WBC Convention in Bangkok, Thailand that he believed an imminent deal was possible, with Ortiz ultimately seeking his first world title against WBC champion Sebastian Fundora later in 2026.
The teams of Ortiz and Ennis presented options to bring the talks closer to reality, and one individual told BoxingScene there were times negotiations “got heated”, but said that that’s expected, considering where they are.
“If it was bad and had no chance, I would tell you,” the individual said. “Deals like this do not get done in a day.”
