Amid the fractures threatening to destroy the talks to make a likely superb junior-middleweight showdown between in-their-prime unbeatens Vergil Ortiz Jnr and Jaron “Boots” Ennis is the common-sense belief that the fight must be next.
On Tuesday’s episode of ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today,” Ortiz trainer and analyst Robert Garcia echoed the thoughts of fight fans yearning for this compelling match.
“It’s a fight that needs to happen … I hope they let go of their pride, be fair to the fighters and give them what they need,” Garcia said.
In recent days, Ortiz promoter Oscar De La Hoya has said he’s “moving on” from the fight because Ennis promoter Eddie Hearn hasn’t responded to the suggestion of a 60-40 purse split with the winner receiving 5 per cent.
And Ortiz manager Rick Mirigian has countered to BoxingScene that he’s authorized to negotiate for his fighter, an opening for Hearn to negotiate with him directly.
‘I think both the fighters want this fight, but there are other players involved,” analyst and former 140lbs champion Chris Algieri said. “Negotiations are brutal. Lots of egos … this fight can happen, but there are obstructions.”
Texas’ Ortiz, 27, is the WBC interim 154lbs champion with a 24-0 record and 22 knockouts while Philadelphia’s Ennis 35-0 (31KOs) is a former unified welterweight champion at age 28.
With all of the 154lbs champions booked – WBO champion Xander Zayas will meet WBA champion Abass Baraou January 31, IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev will defend his belt the same day versus Josh Kelly and WBC champion Sebastian Fundora is penciled to meet Keith Thurman in a postponed defense in March – the question is where will Ortiz and Ennis turn?
Malignaggi said he’s heard speculation in Australia that suggested Ortiz alternate opponent and former three-belt welterweight champion Errol Spence Jnr may be headed to first meet former 154lbs champion Tim Tszyu.
Would that lead someone like returning former undisputed 154lbs champion Jermell Charlo to Ennis?
“I’d like to believe both guys want the fight, but Vergil has already proven he’ll take on anyone … Ennis? I don’t know. The pressure to make the fight is more on Jaron Ennis,” Malignaggi said.
“We know how [negotiations] work. Promoters will call you. If you really want it, the fight will get made.”
Garcia said he’s also heard of the Spence-Tszyu whispers, but assured, “If [Ennis] doesn’t happen, we’ll go out for the best option. Fundora might be committed to Keith Thurman. We are the interim [champion]. If we could fight Fundora, that still looks good for Vergil.
“Spence? Not right now. The way he’s looked [getting beat up by Terence Crawford in 2023, coming back from a car crash in 2019], the things he’s been through, I wouldn’t be too excited about it. If he destroys Tszyu, OK.”
Garcia posed an intriguing question: If money is the snagging point, why doesn’t Hearn summon his partner, Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh, to bridge the divide with a cash influx?
Some industry observers suggest, with DAZN’s union with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions looking tenuous and Alalshikh bothered by some of De La Hoya’s criticisms, that ship has sailed.
Whether Ortiz-Ennis is gone, too, will be known for certain in the coming days.
