Vergil Ortíz vs. Jaron Ennis: A Guaranteed Knockout?!

Vergil Ortíz vs. Jaron Ennis: A Guaranteed Knockout?!

When two fighters with aggressive styles who are constantly on the attack and carry dynamite in their fists face each other, the chances of an electrifying knockout are enormous, an outcome that creates an aura of foreboding and turns any boxing venue into madness.

Undefeated Americans Vergil Ortíz (19-0, 19 KOs) and Jaron “Boots” Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs) embody this aura of excitement. These two youngsters — who are ranked at the top of the welterweight division — aspire to obtain the belts held by Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford. Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) currently holds the WBC, WBA and IBF belts, while Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) has in his possession the WBO belt.

Although a match between Ortiz (pictured with his trainer Robert Garcia) and Ennis is an unquestionably brilliant duel which casual and hardcore fans would greatly appreciate, there are some obstacles that prevent it becoming a reality in the near future.

Ortíz, 24 years old and born in Dallas, Texas, plans to face Lithuanian Eimantas Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs). This matchup was ordered by the WBA last November and then went to public auction after they were unable to negotiate an agreement after 30 days. Golden Boy Promotions won the bid with an offer of $2,300,00, $200,000 higher than the amount bid by TGB Promotions.

Initially, it was reported that the Ortíz-Stanionis fight would take place on March 18th in Dallas, Texas, but Stanionis had to undergo surgery for appendicitis and the fight was postponed with the possibility of it being rescheduled for April.

The winner of Ortíz and Stanionis would then have the opportunity to face Spence Jr., who will be fighting fellow American veteran Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) at an agreed catchweight, possibly in a pay-per-view event in April.

According to Gilberto Mendoza, president of the WBA, Spence will only be able to temporarily evade the winner of Ortíz vs Stanionis if he reaches an agreement with Crawford, which will define the undisputed king of the welterweight division.

JARON ENNIS HAS VERGIL ORTIZ ON HIS RADAR

After a streak of 19 consecutive knockouts, Jaron Ennis needed 12 rounds to unanimously defeat Ukrainian and German-based Karen Chukhadzhian (21-2, 11 KOs) on January 7th in Washington D.C. With greater boxing attributes than his rival, it was practically a walkover for Ennis who obtained three scores of 120-108 while winning the IBF interim belt. The elusive Chukhadzhian seemed to be more concerned with avoiding the knockout than with obtaining the victory.

The last fight that Ennis won by unanimous decision was a six rounder in March of 2017 against his countryman, James Winchester, where the three judges awarded scores of 60-53. Winchester retired after that loss.

After the fight with Chukhadzhian, Ennis was asked if he would like to fight Ortiz. Without thinking about it, Ennis replied, “The goal is to get three fights this year, and we’d definitely take Vergil Ortiz. It don’t matter who it is, it could be Vergil Ortiz, Errol Spence, Bud (Crawford), Keith Thurman, (Yordenis) Ugas. I just want to fight all the top guys to show the world my talent.”

Article submitted by Jorge Juan Álvarez in Spanish.

Please note any adjustments made were for clarification purposes and any errors in translation were unintentional.

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