Trainer Robert Garcia believes Jaron “Boots” Ennis’ team decided it would be too dangerous to fight Vergil Ortiz JNR directly, leading up to their highly anticipated bout.
ennis and ortiz are A clash at 154 pounds was reportedly negotiated on the undercard of a February 22 rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitrii Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but the fight fell through.
Ennis, of Philadelphia, holds the IBF 147-pound title and is expected to move up to challenge WBC Intrim 154-pound champion Ortiz of Dallas, Texas. However, Garcia refused to blame the weight difference between the fighters as the main reason for the loss, suggesting that Ennis was big, powerful and talented enough to handle Ortiz.
“We’re ready to fight. Vergil is a fighter. He doesn’t say no to any fight,” Garcia told Boxing.com. “So when we were told he was going to fight Boot, we were happy. We were excited for that fight. We were ready for that fight, but in the end it wasn’t Vergil. It was Boot’s team, Matchroom, whoever was pulled out Out. So, not us.
“I really don’t know what happened. I don’t know why he decided not to fight because in his last fight he said he was making weight and we were ready for him but it seems he decided not to Do.”
Ortiz, 22-0 (21 KOs), instead elected to face former WBA 154-pound titlist Israil Madrimov (last August) over Terence Crawford on February 22 in Riyadh.
Instead, Ennis had a unification fight with WBA middleweight champion Eimantas Stanionis on April 12 – coincidentally, he was originally scheduled to fight Ortiz in 2023 before the fight was canceled multiple times.
As part of preparations for the Madrimov fight, Garcia said he took Ortiz to a training camp in London.
Garcia said he expected a very technical fight between Ortiz and Madrimov.
“Both fighters are going to have a great fight. Madrimov is a great fighter. He had a great fight with Crawford and it was a very close fight, so We can’t see Madrimov. We have to focus on Madrimov now and after the fight, if everything goes well, then we will think about the future fights.”
Garcia said the 154-pound division is lucky to have a lot of great fighters that can give Ortiz the competition he needs. Garcia said Ortiz is willing to face any of the current Taylors in 154 – Sebastian Fundora, Crawford and Bakram Murtasali Bakhram Murtazaliev, or former undisputed champion Jermell Charlo.
“There are a lot of options. There are a lot of big fights out there. Personally, these are huge fights against Vergil, so I’d love to fight.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a background in boxing. For several years, he wrote a boxing column in his native Ghana titled “From the Circus.” Bernard Neequaye can be reached on @bernardneequaye, on LinkedIn and via email at X (formerly Twitter) bernardneequaye@gmail.com.
