Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will NOT be preventing WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. on His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season card on February twenty second.
Ennis-Ortiz Combat Off
Dan Rafael experiences 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 surprising that the combat isn’t taking place as a result of promoter Eddie Hearn had talked about in interviews since Thursday that Ennis shifting up would probably imply vacating his IBF welterweight title. He wished to try to arrange some unification fights in opposition to the opposite 147-lb champions.
Was Ennis Scared?
Some followers consider Ennis lacks the boldness to combat the younger phenom Vergil Ortiz Jr., as he can be the underdog. Furthermore, it will be a tricky combat for Ennis to absorb his first match at 154. He doesn’t have nice defensive expertise, and getting hit repeatedly by an enormous puncher like Vergil Jr. wouldn’t be an excellent expertise for him.
Ennis seemed sad after successful a tougher-than-expected 12-round unanimous choice over Karen Chukhadzhian of their rematch on November ninth on the Wells Fargo Middle in Philadelphia. He’d been hit rather a lot by Karen and outboxed all through the combat. Ennis’ work price and energy saved him from dropping, however he nonetheless seemed dangerous.
In his final combat in opposition to Serhii Bohachuk, Vergil confirmed that he might do all of it—punch, field, and transfer. His potential to adapt was spectacular in that combat. Ennis would probably lose to Vergil, derailing his promising profession.
Fundora A Risk?
“The edges had agreed to the combat, which was presupposed 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 on the lookout for a brand new opponent to combat Ortiz, [according to] a number of sources,” mentioned 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 superb choice for Vergil Jr. to combat on February twenty second if a deal could be rapidly negotiated. There’s sufficient time for Fundora to organize for the combat, offered 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 develop into undisputed champion by beating these three belt-holders:
– Eimantas Stanionis: WBA
– Brian Norman Jr: WBO
– Mario Barrios: WBC
