Ortiz Jr. Leaves Junior Middleweight

Vergil Ortiz Jr. is moving up to middleweight after failing to land a fight with Jaron Ennis, despite Ennis reportedly agreeing to a smaller purse split to make it happen.

According to Uncrowned's Darshan Desai, Oscar De La Hoya pushed for a 60/40 split favoring Ortiz, plus an extra 5% for the winner — terms Ennis accepted.

"Boots is part of the plan, but it doesn't have to be next. Eddie, since you're so desperate to make this fight, let's do this: 60/40 for Vergil and 5% to the winner because I'm generous, and I'm not moving off those numbers," De La Hoya

Even with Ennis on board, the fight never materialized. A breach of contract lawsuit against Golden Boy consumed much of Ortiz's year before settling in July, and by the time it resolved, Ennis had moved on — unifying titles against Xander Zayas in front of 15,000 fans at Barclays Center as the agreed underdog on the promotional card.

The contrast is stark: Ennis accepted a subordinate financial role to climb toward the top of the division, while Ortiz held out for leverage he never converted into a fight. Ennis now controls the junior middleweight picture, with a bout against Josh Kelly lined up and a potential undisputed clash with Sebastian Fundora possible in 2027 if both keep winning.

By stepping up to middleweight, Ortiz exits that picture entirely. His camp is exploring fights with Jermell Charlo and Tim Tszyu, though both have said they'd rather fight each other — leaving Ortiz at risk of landing in a thinner division without a marquee opponent, a title, or the payday the Ennis fight would have delivered.