Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis posted on X today, responding to reports of his negotiations with Virgil Ortiz Jr. falling apart. Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) says he was “not aware” of any negotiations with Vergil and will let fans know at a “later time and date” whether he will stay at 147 or move to 154.
Ennis’ Cryptic Post
It’s unclear why Ennis didn’t state his intentions in his social post, but it would have been easy for him to do so. His silence only reinforces the belief that he is backing out of a fight with Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs) on February 22nd.
Fans find it hard to believe that he was unaware of the negotiations with Virgil. How does Boots not know what’s going on? It’s news everywhere, and surely his promoter, Eddie Hearn, told him about the discussion. It just sounds suspicious.
At this point, Ennis should fight Vergil because his popularity will be much worse than if he lost. Being seen as scared is much worse than losing. Fans see him as a coward and it reinforces their opinion that Ennis was a hype job from the jump. He won his IBF featherweight title via email and hasn’t fought anyone well since picking it up.
If Ennis is going to fight Virgil, he has to make a quick decision because he has 84 days until February 22nd and he will have to start training. Moreover, that fight should be promoted as part of the other matches on the season card of Riyadh.
— Boots (@JaronEnnis) November 30, 2024
“I heard news about Vergil and the boots that should be off. Just letting you know it’s the best duck soup ever,” Tim Bradley said on social media, reacting to the breakdown of Virgil Ortiz Jr. vs. Jeron ‘Boots’ Ennis negotiations.
“That’s exactly what you want to do when you want to bring someone down when you change your mind when you don’t believe you’re that good.” I don’t want to hear anyone else say anything about Boots. We don’t say any of that anymore.
“This is a clear indication that he does not want to smoke because this is a perfect matchup for him at 154 lbs.” It’s a smaller one, not a big one. He’s been at 154 for a while, but this is a perfect matchup,” Bradley said, saying Verville Jr. would be an ideal matchup for Ennis on Feb. 22.
Duck Soup Claims
It looks like a duck job by Ennis, and his comment about not being unaware of the negotiations going on makes him sound disingenuous. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, said he had spoken with him, and he claimed he wanted to unify at welterweight. Hearn wouldn’t have made this story up if it wasn’t true.
“What about all that talk your promoter ran after the (Karen Chouhadjian) fight (Nov. 9)?” ‘154, 147 was really hard for him to make. The weight was the problem.’ You all blamed it on his last performance, didn’t you? Now you want to stay at 147?” Bradley said.
“You can stay at 147. You can fight. All you have to do is talk to the Sanctioning Body (IBF). All you have to do is say, ‘Hey, I want to go up to 154, and I want to fight Vergil and keep my belt at 147lb.’ They’ll say, ‘Yes, as long as you pay the sanctioning fee.’ That’s it. “That’s all he has to do,” Bradley said.
The International Boxing Federation will likely allow Ennis to freeze his title so he can move up to 154 and challenge Virgil Jr. for his WBC interim belts. Even if they said no, it’s not a big deal for Ennis to lose his IBF title because he can always go back to welterweight and beat whoever wins it.
“Apparently, he’s not as bad as you all think he is.” All those fans who think he’s bad. This is not a good look for Boots and his team, man. Boots didn’t fight anyone. This does not look good for the Boots camp,” Bradley said. “This is not looking good for Eddie Hearn. He doesn’t even have to come out of his pocket for this. This will be Saudi Arabia’s money. This is amazing to me, man.
“Boots, you have to fight at 154. Step up and face this man because I’m telling you, you look like a fool.” You and your team are looking for a fool, bro. Gear up, let’s go. This is kind of a duck soup,” Bradley said.
Duck soup 🦆🍜 pic.twitter.com/16ihBhrKSF3
— sour Ave Mel (@souraveboking1) November 30, 2024