Vergil Ortiz Jnr-Jaron Ennis: So close, and perhaps so far away

FORT WORTH, Texas – Vergil Ortiz Jnr took care of his business, and then his sport began slowly traipsing back to business as usual.

Following days of hyping Ortiz’s WBC interim junior-middleweight title defense against respected veteran contender Erickson Lubin as the final step before a showdown with fellow unbeaten Jaron “Boots” Ennis, those in Ortiz’s camp made clear another step remains.

Negotiation.

In a reminder of what boxing was like before Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh made posturing like this go away by writing big checks, Ortiz’s promoters and trainer emphasized that they’re not absolutely beholden to Ennis 35-0 (31KOs), the recent unified welterweight champion from Philadelphia who went out of his way to venture to Dickies Arena for a ringside seat to Ortiz’s bullish second-round knockout of Lubin.

“This can be a great negotiation,” Ortiz’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya told BoxingScene after the bout. “When I say it has to be favorable to Vergil, that’s the obvious case. Look at what he did. Look at who he is. Vergil Ortiz is the man. Having this fight in Las Vegas [possibly for Cinco de Mayo weekend] would be huge, but Vergil Ortiz has to be the favorite here.”

With Alalshikh aligning to fund the new Zuffa Boxing venture headed by UFC chief executive and president Dana White, promoters like De La Hoya are more cognizant that they need to stage their own major domestic shows for self-reliant purposes. Doing so makes risk and the bottom line strong considerations again.  

“As long as the negotiations are favorable, we’ll make the fight happen,” De La Hoya sought to assure. “Everyone wants to see the fight, so the money’s not going to be an issue because there will be enough money in the pot.”

While Ortiz, 24-0 (22KOs), can potentially attract the sport’s mighty Latino fan base and has distinguished himself with the destructive effort against Lubin that follows his hearty triumphs over recent WBA 154lbs champion Israil Madrimov and contender Serhii Bohachuk, Ennis can counter that he’s the one who has stood as a world champion.

What if Ennis’ promoter Eddie Hearn argues his guy is “the man?”

“Oh, he better not,” De La Hoya said. “There’s no question I have the man. These negotiations will go back and forth, but at the end of the day, Vergil Ortiz is the man.” 

The fighters argued their credentials and more in the middle of the ring after Ortiz rushed Lubin and landed a crushing barrage powered by a brutal right-hook to the chin that left Lubin knocked out as the referee waved the bout over halfway through the second round while Ortiz’s trainer Robert Garcia set a stool down for the still-out Lubin to rest and recover.

“We're ready for the best,” Ortiz, 27, said after answering questions about his knockout. “We want to fight the best. ‘Boots’, come out here. I think this is the fight that has to happen, man. This is it.”

Ennis, 28, agreed.

“It's the best fight in boxing,” he said.

“He did a great job. He looked good, but I'm gonna show the world why I'm the best in the world, and I'm gonna show his team. They've been talking all crazy… Your manager [Rick Mirigian] talking all crazy. Oscar talking crazy. It's the time. I'm gonna make you pay for everything they said… I'm gonna back it up, and I'm gonna show the world why I'm the best in the world.”

Not a classic trash talker, Ortiz said his practice doing so while playing video games served him well during his in-ring verbal exchanges with Ennis.

“Ain’t nobody gonna pay over here,” he said.

Ennis then offered to bet purse money as a way to sweeten the pot.

“I don't bet, but don't make any promises you can't keep, bro.,” Ortiz replied

“I'm gonna make every promise, and I'm gonna keep it straight like that,” said Ennis. “You're a great fighter. You looked tremendous, but I'm gonna show the world I'm the best in the world. I got something for you.

“You got a ‘Yes’ for me?” asked Ortiz.

“I got a ‘Yes’ right now,” Ennis said, looking for Hearn. “Eddie, where the papers at? Where the papers at?”

While it’s well known DAZN wants its fighters Ortiz and Ennis to meet next, Golden Boy Promotions’ Eric Gomez told BoxingScene: “DAZN doesn’t decide who we fight. We do.”

And following this devastating show of force against Florida’s Lubin, 30 years old and who had previously only lost to former undisputed champion Jermell Charlo and reigning WBC champion Sebastian Fundora, Golden Boy was intent to declare its fighter’s prominence.

Charlo attended the fight along with Ennis and another potential future foe who can be used as leverage in the talks with Ennis – former three-belt welterweight champion and fellow Texan Errol Spence Jnr.

Even Ortiz, who has maintained he’s here to “fight the best”, hedged on who exactly trails him in the current landscape of 154lbs, recognising that perhaps only Spence is capable of creating a bout that could be taken to Ortiz’s dream venue – the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.

De La Hoya said flatly: “If we don’t get favorable negotiations, we can always go to Errol Spence or Fundora.”

Garcia agreed that the wealth of options before Ortiz are astounding.

“We’re mandatory for Fundora … Spence was here, Charlo was here, ‘Boots’ was here,” the trainer said. “Vergil became the fighter to challenge.” Garcia also added the name of the WBO champion Xander Zayas, who called for a fight with Ortiz earlier in the year. “We could do five, six fights, and this is the perfect moment for Vergil to become a pay-per-view star,” he said.

“He’s the one everyone wants to challenge because we’re the biggest fight for him. We’ve got options. If it’s ‘Boots’, beautiful, but so is Spence, Charlo, Fundora, Zayas. That makes that Mexican-American a superstar.”

Ortiz said that the traditional boxing weekend of Cinco de Mayo is “the perfect date to take over… I’m more than ready to rise to the occasion”. 

Who would be in the opposite corner, however, has moved from looking like a certainty to a topic of negotiation. 

Garcia was asked if fans were subjected to a bait-and-switch by withdrawing a bit from the primary focus of Ennis.

“Well, if it’s Ennis or not… there’s like five out there who are huge in the division – we’ve got options,” he responded. “We’re not chasing one. It looks like everyone’s chasing us. We’re the name – the one.”