The best fight in boxing hasn’t been made yet, but if promoter Eddie Hearn is to be believed, the intent is there.
In an interview with FightHype, Hearn, who promotes Jaron “Boots” Ennis, said he wants to match his charge and Vergil Ortiz for a clash early in 2026. Each man already has a fight lined up for the end of this year – Ennis will box the unheralded Uisma Lima, while Ortiz will meet veteran contender Erickson Lubin.
“Good fight. I hope [Ortiz] wins!” Hearn told FightHype. “I think he will, I think he’s the favorite to win that fight, but it’s a good fight.”
Always the promoter, Hearn gassed up his fighter while subtly casting doubt on Ortiz’s recent win against Israil Madrimov. Hearn speculated that Madrimov returned too soon from a chest infection that kept him out of a planned fight with Serhii Bohachuk and was less than his best against Ortiz in February.
“It was actually quite a close fight,” Hearn added. “Vergil won fair and square, [but] the style of Madrimov is difficult for anyone. We saw that against Crawford.”
The announcement of Ennis-Lima drew some criticism – Ennis moved up to a division more densely populated with stars for this? – but Hearn didn’t acknowledge it.
“He might not have the profile of Lubin but is just as good, just as tough as Erickson Lubin,” Hearn said of Lima, 14-1 (10 KOs), whose lone loss was a wide unanimous decision to Aaron McKenna in 2023. This claim likely requires some bearing out, given Lubin’s heroic stand against Sebastian Fundora, who may be the class of the junior middleweight division, in 2022.
On the hypothetical Ennis-Ortiz fight itself, a mouthwatering clash of two powerful, durable, skillful operators in their prime, Hearn backed his fighter.
“Vergil Ortiz is a very good fighter. I just truly believe that his style is tailor-made for Jaron Ennis,” he said. “It’s not an easy fight, but it’s a great fight, and I believe this is the fight that shows everybody that Boots is a top pound-for-pound star.”
Upon signing Ennis, Hearn promptly declared ambitions to turn the prodigiously skilled then-welterweight into a three-division undisputed champion. Ennis got halfway there at 147lbs, dominating Eimantas Stanionis to unify two titles and establish himself as the lineal champion. Aside from that crowning moment, though, his progress to a superfight or 50-50 test has been slow. As Ennis’ promoter, Hearn gets some of the heat for that.
“Let’s make sure that by the time Vergil Ortiz wins, we’re in the ring with him, announcing that fight,” Hearn said.
From his lips to the boxing gods’ ears.
