Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis posted on X today, reacting to reports of his negotiations with Vergil Ortiz Jr. falling apart. Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) says he was “unaware” of any negotiations with Vergil and will let the fans know at a “later date and time” if he’s staying at 147 or moving up to 154.
Ennis’ Cryptic Post
It’s unclear why Ennis didn’t say his intentions in his social post, but that would have been easy for him to do. His silence just furthers the belief that he’s ducking the fight with Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs) on February 22nd.
It’s hard for fans to believe that he was “unaware” of the negotiations with Vergil. How could Boots not know what’s going on? It’s news everywhere, and surely his promoter, Eddie Hearn, had told him about the discussions. It just sounds fishy.
At this point, Ennis needs to take this fight with Vergil because his popularity is going to take a hit that is much worse than if he were to lose. Being viewed as scared is far worse than losing. It’s seen as cowardly by fans and reinforces their view that Ennis was a hype job from the jump. He got his IBF welterweight title through email and hasn’t fought anyone good since he picked it up.
If Ennis is going to fight Vergil, he’s got to make a quick decision because there are 84 days before February 22nd, and he would need to start training. Moreover, the fight needs to be promoted as part of the other matches on the Riyadh Season card.
— Boots (@JaronEnnis) November 30, 2024
“I heard the news about Vergil and Boots supposed to be off. I’m just letting you know right now, that’s duck soup at its finest,” said Tim Bradley on social media, reacting to the Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis negotiations falling apart.
“That’s exactly what you want to do when you want to duck somebody when you change your mind when you don’t believe that you’re that good. I don’t want to hear nobody else say nothing about Boots. We ain’t saying none of that no more.
“This is a clear indicator right here that he doesn’t want no smoke because this is the perfect matchup for him at 154 lbs. It’s a smaller guy, not a big guy. He’s been at 154 for a while, but this is the perfect matchup,” said Bradley, saying that Vervil Jr. would be the ideal match for Ennis on February 22nd.
Duck Soup Claims
It does look 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 spoke to him, and he claimed that he wanted to unify at welterweight. Hearn wouldn’t make up this story if it weren’t true.
“What about all that talk your promoter was doing after the [Karen Chukhadzhian] fight [on November 9th]? ‘154, 147 was really hard for him to make. The weight was an issue.’ Y’all was blaming that on his last performance, right? Now you want to stay at 147?” said Bradley.
“You can stay at 147. You can fight. All you’ve got to do is talk to the sanctioning body [IBF]. All you got to do is say, ‘Hey, I want to go up to 154, and I want to fight Vergil and maintain my belt at 147 lb.’ They’re going to say, ‘Yeah, as long as you pay the sanctioning fee.’ That’s it. That’s all he got to do,” said Bradley.
The International Boxing Federation would likely allow Ennis to freeze his title so he can go up to 154 to challenge Vergil 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 return to the welterweight division and beat whoever captures it.
“Obviously, he’s not as bad as y’all think he is. All those fans thinking he’s bad. This ain’t good look for Boots and his team, man. Boots ain’t fought nobody. This is not looking good for the Boots camp,” said Bradley. “This is not looking good for Eddie Hearn. He doesn’t even have to come out of the pocket for this. This is going to be Saudi Arabia’s money. This is unbelievable to me, man.
“Boots, you need to fight at 154. Step up and face this man because I’m telling you, you’re looking like a sucker. You and your team are looking for a sucker, bro. Gear up, let’s go. This is some duck soup,” said Bradley.
Duck Soup 🦆🍜 pic.twitter.com/16ihBhrXF3
— sour Ave Mel (@souraveboxing1) November 30, 2024
