Oscar De La Hoya has made Jaron Ennis and promoter Eddie Hearn an offer, not showing any willingness to budge on his demands for the Vergil Ortiz Jr fight.
Negotiations for a mouth-watering clash between ‘Boots’ Ennis and Ortiz have been at play for a while now, with many expecting the two super-welterweights to collide later this year.
As the marginally more seasoned contender at 154lbs, Ortiz orchestrated a ruthless second-round finish over Erickson Lubin in November, which followed two hard-fought victories over Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk.
In only his third super-welterweight outing, the Texan was compelled to survive two knockdowns against Bohachuk, before claiming a contentious majority decision win in 2024.
Ennis, meanwhile, has only had one fight at 154lbs, a first-round demolition job against Uisma Lima in October, but was able to unify the welterweight division with a sixth-round stoppage victory over Eimantas Stanionis earlier last year.
But despite ‘Boots’ being a former world champion, Golden Boy boss De La Hoya, who promotes Ortiz, firmly believes that his man is the A-side in this potential collision of unbeaten contenders.
Publicising his thoughts via an Instagram post, De La Hoya insisted to Matchroom boss Hearn, Ennis’ promoter, that, unless his terms are met, Ortiz is likely to be moved in a different direction.
“Vergil can fight two or three different guys in mega fights – he’s got options. Imagine him with Errol Spence at Dallas Cowboys Stadium, or Sebastian Fundora in a mega fight in Vegas.
“‘Boots’ is part of the plan but it doesn’t have to be next. But Eddie, since you’re so desperate to make this fight, then let’s do this: 60-40 [purse split] for Vergil and 5% to the winner, because I’m generous. And I’m not moving off those numbers.”
The return of Spence, it seems, is still very much up in the air, while WBC world champion Fundora is expected to face Keith Thurman in March.
Hearn has previously urged De La Hoya and Ortiz to finalise the talks, though this latest stumbling block does not bode well.
