Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will NOT be combating WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. on His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season card on February twenty second.
Ennis-Ortiz Struggle Off
Dan Rafael studies that the deal fell aside between Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) and Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs0 after they agreed. No purpose was given for why the deal fell aside.
It’s not sudden that the combat isn’t occurring as a result of promoter Eddie Hearn had talked about in interviews since Thursday that Ennis transferring up would probably imply vacating his IBF welterweight title. He wished to try to arrange some unification fights towards the opposite 147-lb champions.
Was Ennis Scared?
Some followers imagine Ennis lacks the arrogance to combat the younger phenom Vergil Ortiz Jr., as he can be the underdog. Furthermore, it might be a tricky combat for Ennis to absorb his first match at 154. He doesn’t have nice defensive abilities, and getting hit repeatedly by an enormous puncher like Vergil Jr. wouldn’t be a superb expertise for him.
Ennis regarded sad after successful a tougher-than-expected 12-round unanimous resolution over Karen Chukhadzhian of their rematch on November ninth on the Wells Fargo Heart in Philadelphia. He’d been hit rather a lot by Karen and outboxed all through the combat. Ennis’ work charge and energy saved him from shedding, however he nonetheless regarded unhealthy.
In his final combat towards Serhii Bohachuk, Vergil confirmed that he might do all of it—punch, field, and transfer. His capacity to adapt was spectacular in that combat. Ennis would seemingly lose to Vergil, derailing his promising profession.
Fundora A Risk?
“The edges had agreed to the combat, which was speculated to be a part of a mega card Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh is placing collectively for a Riyadh Season occasion on Feb. 22. The combat cratered on Friday, leaving organizers searching for a brand new opponent to combat Ortiz, [according to] a number of sources,” stated Dan Rafael on his substack web site.
“The Saudis reached out to WBC/WBO junior middleweight titleholder Sebastian Fundora’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, to gauge their curiosity within the bout.”
WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora can be a wonderful choice for Vergil Jr. to combat on February twenty second if a deal might be rapidly negotiated. There’s sufficient time for Fundora to organize for the combat, supplied he’s not coping with an damage or scheduled to combat somebody.
If Ennis chooses to remain at 147, he might keep a champion for a very long time as a result of the division is weak, and he’s thought-about the highest canine down there. It will be nice if Hearn can setup fights for Ennis to grow to be undisputed champion by beating these three belt-holders:
– Eimantas Stanionis: WBA
– Brian Norman Jr: WBO
– Mario Barrios: WBC
