Ennis Addresses Ortiz Fight Collapse – ‘I Was Undecided’

Jaron Ennis addressed the recent breakdown of the Virgil Ortiz Jr. fight following much criticism.
Reports indicated that Ennis was in communication with Ortiz’s team for a fight at 154 pounds. This would have been the first time Ennis moved to the weight class following his fights at 147. Ennis holds the IBF Welterweight Title, a belt he defended successfully after beating Karen Chukhadzhian in his last fight. However, Boots has struggled to make the big fights at 147, with unification bouts failing. He was in talks with the WBO Welterweight Champion Brian Norman Jr. He was also linked with a fight against Mario Barrios, who holds the WBC Welterweight Title.
None of those fights were made as Ennis appeared keen on moving up to 154. Eddie Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya had confirmed that talks were underway. A fight had allegedly been agreed verbally for February 22. However, the fight broke down, with reports suggesting that Ennis wanted it at 147. But this was never going to happen since Ortiz moved up to 154 after being hospitalized for failing to make welterweight. That resulted in significant criticism for Ennis, with suggestions that he was ducking Ortiz.
If he had won a fight with Ortiz, it would have put him in contention for a title shot. The bout was meant to be for the WBC Interim Junior Middleweight Title. Ennis has now addressed the recent criticism, saying that his focus is on unifying the 147 division. He also confirmed that there was a miscommunication with his camp, which is why there was a breakdown in talks.
Ennis Reacts
“I reached out to everybody involved to get down to the bottom of what was going on and it was a bunch of miscommunication. I got a great team, and I hired them to do their job, but I just felt like I was out of the loop. From now on, I will be more in tune of what’s going on. They called on the deadline [for the February 22nd card], and I was undecided. I want to unify or be undisputed. Everybody was calling me an ‘Email champion’ because I was never able to take a title from somebody. I was given a belt. I never got that feeling of winning a world title and taking it from somebody,” Boots said
Nevertheless, Boots’ brand suffered a lot of damage. If he fails to secure a big fight at 147, boxing fans may turn on him. He is at the peak of his career at 27 years old. He is undefeated with a 33-0 record, including 29 wins by knockout. Despite being the IBF title holder, he inherited the belt after Terence Crawford was stripped.
Crawford tried to pursue the Errol Spence Jr. rematch before moving up to 154 pounds. Ennis’ best win is arguably David Avanesyan. And that was somebody Crawford has already beaten. Matchroom has also invested a significant amount of money in Ennis. And given that he has the potential to be the future of the welterweight division, Boots must ensure that he faces those big names before his career is over.
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