Eddie Hearn said today that Jaron ‘Boot’ Ennis will fight either in a unification next March or April 2025 or in a “big fight” at 147.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Hearn reiterated the reason Boots, 27, did not accept an offer to fight interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. on February 22 was because he did not want to “vacate” his IBF light heavyweight title.
That excuse doesn’t work because Boots just made a mandatory defense against Karen Chukhadzhian on Nov. 9 and can move up to 154 for one fight without losing the belt. So either Hearn and Boots either don’t know about it, or they are being disingenuous. It’s hard to believe that Hearn wouldn’t have been aware that Ennis had just made a mandatory save.
Hearn didn’t say who would be in the fight for Boots (33-0, 29 KOs), but it would have to be someone not currently in the light heavyweight division. There are no popular fighters at 147.
American fans would not consider Conor Benn “the great struggle”. He is not seen as a serious talent. He’s more of a celebrity type fighter, in the same boat as Chris Eubank Jr and Tommy Fury.
Ennis’ next move
“Boots never decided to go to 154. ‘Maybe he’ll go to 154.’ “I felt it was a bit of a flat performance,” Eddie Hearn said KO Artist Sport about Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. “He went on vacation for two weeks.” We started getting some offers for him to fight (Virgil) Ortiz.
“The first offer was for 147 from the season in Riyadh. In these situations with the season in Riyadh, nobody really makes an offer. He comes from the season in Riyadh. So they emailed us, saying, “We’d like to make you an offer to fight Virgil Ortiz at 147 in Riyadh; this is money.’
“I spoke to Boots and got back to them (the Saudis) 24 hours later. I said, ‘You might want to check. This is at 147.’ I came back a day later, ‘It’s at 154.’ I said, ‘No problem. Let me have a word with Boots.’ I’m back. We had 48 hours to make a decision. I told Boots, ‘You have to make a decision.’ “Oh, when?” ‘Now. Do you want to vacate the belt (IBF welterweight) and move to 154?’ The reason we took the (Karen) Chouhadjian fight, which cost me a lot of money, and it was a fight I didn’t want to do because he told me how much he wanted to fight the other champions at 147.
No matter how much Hearn talks, it still seems 100% obvious that Boots gave up on the Virgil Ortiz fight because he would have made a lot of money and gotten massive publicity for his career. A win over Vergil would increase Ennis’ popularity, and he could be a PPV attraction, opening the door for other big fights with 154.
He has talked about wanting to fight Terence Crawford in the past. Defeating Vergil would help Ennis reach that goal, or at least bring him a little closer.
“So I already know that.” He basically told me, “I’d rather stay at 147,” Hearn said of Ennis. “If I go to 154, I’ll fight Vergil Ortiz in a heartbeat, but I don’t want to vacate the belt. I want to try to unite.’ That’s it. I know the whirlwind of social media. “What?” It’s not his (Ennis’) weight class. He is the world champion with 147.
So there it is. Ennis ducked Virgil. Hearn can’t tell the truth because it’s Boots’ words. He doesn’t want to fight Ortiz Jr.
“When he makes a move, he will accept the fight.” I like the fight because I think he wins the fight and I like Vergil. But if you’re going to go to 154, that’s a perfect fight for us, but he’s not going to go to 154,” Hearn said.
“You can keep this interview on the record and say, his next fight is going to be at 147. He’s not going to say in a month, ‘Hey guys, I’m moving up to 154.’ That’s not the case, because if we were doing that, we would have accepted the offer and the talent he was fighting. So the next one is 147.”
No one doubts that Ennis is staying at 147 because Hearn has said it multiple times. It will come as no surprise to anyone that Boots remains at welterweight. It would surprise people if he moved to 154, but not to stay at 147.
Guaranteed for a great fight
“Either they will unite in March or April or they will be in a big fightt against a huge name. When we announce the fight, you’ll say, ‘Okay, fair enough.’ (Chuhadjian’s poor performance) will help us get Stanionis, Norman or Barrios because they might think they can win now,” Hearn said.
The “huge fight” that fans would see as a big one involving Ennis at 147 would be if Ryan Garcia or Devin Haynie moved up in weight and fought him. That’s about it. Crawford is not returning to the division. There is no one else in the weight class that fans look to as a big fight that Ennis has been in.
“He (Ennis) was a bit confused about it,” Hearn said of Boots being confused about the criticism he received. “We have been talking to the Saudis for the last week or ten days. We talked a little bit with his team, but there was no decision until the offer came.
“The Saudis are moving very fast.” I end fights on that map in three minutes when I talk to someone. So when you ring up Boots and say, ‘We’ve got this offer. Dropping your belt and moving up to a new weight class is a pretty big decision.’ He says, ‘How soon do they want to know?’ “They probably want to know tonight, but I may have trouble bringing it up for a day or two.”
“He’s like, ‘I really don’t know. I want to unite. Can we achieve unification?’ ‘Actually, I believe, yes, we can achieve unification.’ He said, ‘That’s what I really want to do.’ “Well, you made the decision,” and the decision was, “I’m staying at 147.”
“When he does that, there’s no fight at 154, and we love a fight. The reality is that Boots is the world champion, and to leave and go fight outside the world championship. I know the fans want it, but you have to look at your career and your path.
“He’s really frustrated, but I feel like when we announce the next fight, you’re going to say, ‘Fair play.’ It makes sense,” Hearn said.
Boots should be frustrated with himself because he’s the one who refuses to fight Vergil. He is guilty. The fight bid is rumored to be $8 million for Ennis.
