Eddie Hearn says Jeron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ first priority is to go all out in his next unification fight, not face Teofimo Lopez.
Matchroom promoter Hearn says that if he can’t negotiate a deal for Boots (33-0, 29 KOs) to face WBC light heavyweight champion Mario Barrios or WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis, he will consider a fight with Theofimos and Ennis. It would be a joint PPV match on DAZN and ESPN.
Teofimo on hold
Fans were eagerly anticipating Boots to face Teofimo Lopez. They will be disappointed if Ennis decides to fight for the unification against Barrios or Stanionis, as neither of those guys are popular and are only seen as belt holders.
Hearn says Ennis is focusing on unifying the 147lb division because he is “not yet” a 154lb fighter. That’s why he didn’t accept an offer to move up to junior middleweight to challenge Vergil Ortiz Jr. for his interim WBC title on His Excellency Turki Alalshikha’s February 22 season ticket in Riyadh.
Eddie points out that Conor Benn is interested in fighting Barrios next for his WBC title and that fight could happen. WBO light heavyweight champion Brian Norman wants the next setup, so he is not available for Ennis to fight. That leaves only VBA champion Eimantas Stanionis as the main option for Ennis’ next contest.
“The decision was not (to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr.).” I feel bad for Jaron, but at the end of the day, he’s not a 154 pound fighter yet. If he did, he would fight Vergil Ortiz,” Eddie Hearn said on Fight Hub TV about why Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis didn’t accept an offer to challenge WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. February 22.
“We are chasing unification battles. Teofimo Lopez, you’ve seen things about it. We (Ennis) actually like that fight, but he still wants to unify. So if we can’t unify, he has a decision to fight Teofimo Lopez.
“If he went to 154 and didn’t fight Vergil Ortiz, I would understand the criticism. “We’re 100% staying at 147 for the next fight and maybe another fight, but we’ve got to get that unification going,” Hearn said.
This will not go down well with the fans if the Boots choose to go the unification route against one of the 147lb champions instead of facing Teofimo next. He’s already looking like a duck as he opted not to face Vergil Ortiz at 154 on the Feb. 22 card in Riyadh.
If Ennis decides to skip the mega-fight against Lopez in favor of a lackluster welterweight unification bout against Stanionis or Barrios, people will be convinced that he lacks ambition and courage.
What’s next for boots?
“The offer is to take it further.” DAZN PPV and ESPN PPV,” Hearn said of the offer he received for the Teofimo Lopez-Boots Ennis fight. “He (Jaron) really needs a big fight, and he wants that big fight to be unification.
“If we can’t achieve unification, we have to look at other options (for Ennis). Other options could be Teofimo Lopez or Vergil Ortiz. Just don’t go to 154 yet, I promise. The next will be either in unification or mass struggle.”
Apparently, the fight of Virgil Jr. is not an option for Boots’ next fight as he has already decided not to take that fight. Ortiz Jr. has an opponent for the February 22 card, now Israil Madrimov. So it is too late for Ennis to accept that option after his refusal.
If Hearn cannot negotiate a unification fight for IBF welterweight champion Jaron against WBC champion Barrios or WBA belt holder Stanionis, Teofimo is the only option. Eddie and Boots will have to move quickly if they want to have the option of using Lopez as their third choice because he won’t be waiting forever.
“For me, I love the fight (Teofimo) but for him (Boots) it’s not money. “He wants to unify the division,” Hearn said. “That is the absolute aim and goal. Well, when I approached him about Theoifm, ‘Oh, it’s a cool fight, but you have to work hard for the champion (at 147).’ I said, ‘I will, but this is also on the table.’
“The first priority is to exhaust all options on the champion, and if not, I think it (Teofimo) is a great fight.” We are negotiating with Stanionis. We are negotiating with Barrios. Brian Norman will not accept the fight. He wants a warm-up fight first and that’s it. It is quite transparent.
“We’ve got to try to shut down Stanionis or Barrios, or look at Theo, or if he (Boots) wants to move up, he’s got to go straight into that Virgil Ortiz fight. “We’re not going to get into any other fight because people love that fight, and it’s a fight that we really love,” Hearn said.
