The Jaron Ennis-Vergil Ortiz Jr. bout is one of those that keeps running through the same loop. Despite Oscar De La Hoya’s initial interest in setting the undefeated duo up for a match, negotiations have only touched paperwork before turning to dust over and over. First, Ortiz moved up to super welterweight in 2023 after facing severe health issues while cutting his weight to 147 pounds. Then, a few months ago, Golden Boy Promotions had proposed a 5v5 matchup with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, suggesting that Ennis should fight Ortiz at 154 lbs. But that didn’t work out either, as Ennis wanted to stick to his plan of unifying the welterweight division. Following this, there was some back and forth between Ennis’ father, Derek Bozy Ennis, and the WBC interim super welterweight champion, with even Vergil Ortiz Sr. stepping in.

Somewhere, there was even hope when Ennis said, “I think it might be time to go to 154,” after struggling in a rematch against Karen Chukhadzhian in November 2024, while defending his IBF welterweight title. However, that was all dashed when last week Boots Ennis successfully unified the division by beating the WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis. Now, it’s been months since the bout between Ortiz and Boots has been talked about.

Recently, Oscar De La Hoya spoke to Fight Hub TV about the issue with making the Vergil Ortiz Jr.-Jaron Ennis bout happen. “We all know Boots doesn’t want to fight Vergil,” Ortiz’s promoter said, sharing his suspicion that Boots might be ducking the Texan. “I mean, that’s what happened, right? We called him out, we [Vergil Ortiz Jr.] had a fight, then they [Jaron Ennis’ team] backtracked,” De La Hoya shared. So, is a fight between the two possible sometime in the future?

“Until I see it, something on paper, that Boots wants to fight Vergil, then I’ll believe it,” The Golden Boy continued, mentioning that it’s up to Ennis’ team now to agree to the bout. Though at what weight class, he didn’t specify. To that, the reporter quickly asked why Ennis doesn’t want to fight Ortiz.

To that, De La Hoya answered, “Everybody was calling each other out. And then all of a sudden they [Matchroom] pulled off. Off the Vergil train, so. I mean, who knows what the reasons are. But look, Vergil’s the man at 154 [pounds], that’s the bottom line.” Clearly, for Vergil Ortiz Jr., they’re expecting Ennis to move up to the super welterweight division to fight the WBC Interim champion. But, despite previously showing interest, Jaron Ennis has shown no indication that he is ready to abandon his plan to become the undisputed welterweight champion anytime soon. So what does the other side have to say about Ennis’ next move?

Both Vergil Ortiz and Jaron Ennis move on to facing others

For now, it doesn’t seem like fans would get to see the Ortiz-Boots showdown anytime soon. Recently, Eddie Hearn, from Matchroom, called out Terence Crawford to fight Boots Ennis. It would be “one of the greatest fights you will see,” is what Hearn had told to Ring Magazine. However, Crawford is set on facing Canelo Alvarez in a highly anticipated super-middleweight showdown in Las Vegas this September.

With all that on the table, chances are Boots would go on to unify titles in the welterweight division itself. Even Hearn has mentioned his plans of setting up Ennis with Mario Barrios (WBC welterweight champion), and Brian Norman Jr. (WBO welterweight champion), next for potentially becoming the undisputed champion in the division. Likewise, Vergil Ortiz Jr. himself is eyeing other high-profile opponents at super welterweight, including Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev, the IBF light-middleweight champion.

So, both Ennis and Ortiz’s sides may put it on the other for the fight not happening, but the clear deal is that unless a weight is agreed upon, the bout may never happen. Since Ennis might not plan to move up, leaving his unified belts in the welterweight division, and neither is Ortiz planning to move down, considering his health situation, the fight is all but kaput. What are your thoughts? Do you think Vergil and Ennis can come to an agreement to meet in the ring? Or could it be that Ennis is ducking out?